SanParks CEO sacked

South African National Parks (SanParks) has fired its CEO Fundisile Mketeni. This follows a disciplinary inquiry initiated against Mketeni in July 2021.

6 Jun 2022

Soure: SanParks | Fundisile Mketeni

According to a Daily Maverick news report, the internal investigation came shortly after Mketeni was accused of sexually assaulting a 35-year-old Kruger Shalati lodge employee at his home.

Sexual assault charges were laid against Mketeni while two other senior SanParks employees, Xola Mfeke and Danny Thwala, were charged with assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm related to the incident, which occurred on 6 May 2021. However, the charges against Mketeni and the two employees were withdrawn in October 2021.

Media Release: Disciplinary Enquiry Against SANParks CEO Finalised https://t.co/O6czrIChWA pic.twitter.com/Mp7O4gjS8N
— SANParks (@SANParks) June 2, 2022

The board of SanParks initiated the independent disciplinary process to look into the conduct of the three employees. The process was chaired by an independent professional who, according to a statement by SanParks, recommended the dismissal of Mketeni, and resulted in a ruling and recommended sanction being delivered to the board in May 2022.

The board met on Wednesday, 1 June 2022, to deliberate on the outcomes of the disciplinary process (ruling and finding on the sanction) and, in line with the recommendation of the independent senior counsel who chaired the process… "it has determined that the relationship between the CEO and SanParks will be terminated with immediate effect, as of June 1 2022."

SanParks, in a statement, said that notwithstanding the outcomes of the criminal proceedings against the CEO, the board's decision was based on the CEO being found guilty of 6 of the 7 charges levelled against the CEO based on his having breached the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct Policy and the Disciplinary Policy and Procedure of SanParks.