PSA bays for Pityana’s blood

The Public Servants Association (PSA) has called for the removal of Professor Barney Pityana as National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chair accusing him of being a failure.

The fight between PSA and the NLC has been ongoing for a while with the union accusing management of maladministration and failing to look after the needs of its employees and assist the non-profit organisations that depend on it for survival.

Recently, about 100 NLC employees in Pretoria demonstrated, demanding better working conditions and an 8.5% salary inrease while the employer offered 6.5%.

The salary increase talks are continuing.

In an interview with Newsroom Afrika, PSA’s Zamani Dladla said Pityana, 80, was failing to make good decisions due to age.

In an interview with The Citizen yesterday, Claude Naiker, PSA’s acting deputy general manager, said they wanted Pityana removed because of the evident failure of the NLC board under him.

“Our concern is the lack of decisive, ethical governance and the continued deterioration of conditions affecting employees and the institution’s credibility.

“While age is not the core issue, leadership agility and responsiveness are critical in times of crisis. The PSA is questioning Pityana’s capacity to actively engage, make timely decisions and lead the entity through its challenges.”

He added: “His leadership approach has shown detachment and a lack of empathy toward staff and institutional wellbeing.

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Inconsistent and unclear governance

Under his leadership, the NLC has suffered from inconsistent and unclear governance, including the board’s indecision on key matters such as excessive cost on property rentals while owning a property in the same province, which has led to irregular and wasteful expenditure,” he said.

Naiker said under Pityana’s leadership there had been a dismantling of collective bargaining by unilaterally and arbitrary decision-making which left employees voiceless in critical matters.

He said that for four years bonuses were denied under the guise of public perception, despite clear internal justifications of employee’s performance, and reparation processes had been delayed or vague, leading to widespread stakeholder frustration.

He said another problem was the NLC’s excessive reliance on consultants while undermining qualified and capable staff, which had demoralised the workforce and raised questions about transparency and value for money.

NLC commissioner Jodi Scholtz, however, defended Pityana, saying he was leading with determination, vigour and integrity.

Scholtz said the board under Pityana’s leadership was committed to transparency, accountability, integrity and good governance.

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