Boardroom wars: Achilles heel of Arts Council
Sharon Mathala | Sunday March 10, 2024 06:00
The Council, which has also been named as one of President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s achievements, has been running for seven months without a substantive Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Shombie Ellis (48) was appointed to the CEO position last year but she lasted only seven months in office as she was slapped with a suspension letter in July of the same year. Initially, she was to be placed under a three-months suspension. However, the suspension was further extended by another three months until recently when it was made an indefinite full-pay suspension.
But what could have gone wrong? Sources close to the matter have revealed that the CEO’s woes were a result of a power struggle between the Executive Management (EXCO) and the Board. Whilst Ellis has refused to speak to Arts&Culture since her ordeal began, directing the reporters to speak to the Council, a deep throat has revealed that when Ellis was hired to the position, certain key EXCO members had already been appointed some of whom had previously worked with some of the Board members.
The source further alleges that some of the officers often had ‘run-ins’ over operational matters and overlooked her authority. It is alleged that they would instead involve the Board.
According to our source, one of the first key assignments the Council had was to align some of the existing policies with the mandate of the Council, a task which caused further tensions as some exco members did not agree with the direction of the CEO. Then another issue ensued when the NACB had to go on a benchmarking trip as part of the Presidential crew.
During the trip, the CEO is said to have sent warning letters of insubordination to her juniors for allegedly refusing to follow the instructions she had given them before leaving. According to our source, the warning letters were then rescinded by the Board, which caused further divisions between the CEO and her EXCO team. It is alleged that the interference by the Board made it impossible for Ellis to be in control of the day-to-day affairs of the Council.
Furthermore, it is alleged that Ellis felt that some of the Board members were using their personal relationships to protect the said EXCO members who were in the wrong. Another issue that further divided the Council was the implementation of key activities for NACB such as the artist dialogues.
According to our source, the CEO was involved in the procurement of MCing services, something which irked some of her detractors. But tensions reached boiling point when she refused to sign off a Board training session, which was set to be in South Africa sometime around August 2023.
According to our source, whilst there were still discussions around the trip, an invoice was already issued to the accounts department for the payment of over R120, 000 for the trip. Our source alleges that Ellis was suspended after trying to find out why the Board chairperson had approved this payment without her consent. Arts&Culture is also in possession of this invoice.
Arts&Culture can further reveal that prior to her suspension, a series of emails were exchanged where the CEO enquired about the procurement procedure and how the trip was sanctioned. Reached for comment about all these allegations, the NACB refused to comment on the matter.
“Please note that the Council upholds and maintains a strict confidentiality policy in dealing with employer-employee issues. The issue of the CEO is one such matter and the council is constrained to divulge any detail relating to the issue at this time with the media or any member of the public in conformance with upholding employee confidentiality,” Kutlwano Monnamoncho, the NACB spokesperson said.
For his part, the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare confirmed that the CEO is still under suspension. He further stated that a task team has been set up to deal with the matter. When asked when her suspension issue will be resolved, Rakgare said he cannot commit to a time frame but said he has directed that the matter be dealt with timeously. “I will admit that the suspension of the CEO has set us back a few steps, but this is not a one-person show, there is a substantive CEO that continues to drive the NACB and the Council has accomplished a lot and continues to do so,” Rakgare said.