State housing CEO promises ‘morale-boosting’ payment to staff, including R600,000 personal cheque

National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) CEO Azola Mayekiso appeared to have a staff problem within her state-owned agency, a body which is supposed to broaden access to housing finance for low- and middle-income South Africans.

Whistle-blowers were laying complaints against her on a protected hotline and petitioning Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements for assistance. In the just-over two years she had been in her post, four key executives had left under her leadership: two taking early retirement, one accepting a settlement and one resigning.

To boost morale, Mayekiso promised a once-off special payment to all staff — this at a government agency which met just 39% of its performance targets in the last audited year.

In an email sent to all NHFC staff on 31 March, Mayekiso wrote:

“You will be pleased to note that management took a proposal to the Board last week for a once off [sic] ex-gratia [sic] payment to all staff in order to boost staff morale in the organisation.”

Mayekiso wrote that the NHFC board, whose membership terms have since expired without a replacement board in place, had approved the payment subject to Mayekiso obtaining permission from Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane.

“This ex-gratia [sic] payment will be a once off [sic] 13% of your CTC [cost to company] for all staff but it will be 11% for executives,” wrote Mayekiso.

The latest NHFC annual report revealed Mayekiso to be on an annual package of R5,113,000, meaning that she stood to take home around R562,430 as a once-off payment.

The remaining eight executives would cumulatively net more than R3-million.

Mayekiso’s email continued: “From a timing point of view, I am sending the letter to the Minister today and she will have the month of April to object if she so wishes. Should she not object, then we will pay out these once-off payments at the end of April 2025.”

The CEO added, “I hope this gesture goes a long way towards boosting your morale.”

On 16 April, Daily Maverick reported on the allegations of misgovernance against Mayekiso and the exceptionally high board fees earned by the outgoing NHFC board.

Daily Maverick was informed by an NHFC insider, who asked for anonymity, that Mayekiso suspended a senior official on the day of the article’s publication — and subsequently emailed all staff once again.

In that email, Mayekiso defended herself against the allegations recorded in our reporting.

She wrote that staff were free to continue to use the NHFC’s anonymous tip-off line, but added: “What will not be tolerated at the NHFC is the abuse of the whistleblower hotline.”

Mayekiso then appeared to suggest that the actions of a whistle-blower had placed the promised all-staff payments in jeopardy.

“Lastly, you might be asking yourselves questions about the implications of all of this on the once off ex-gratia [sic] payment that was approved by the outgoing board. Well, there is an individual at the NHFC who shared information outside the organisation to discredit the process of the ex-gratia [sic] payment, citing it as irregular. So, I do not know what this therefore means for the ex-gratia [sic] payment, but I thought I should share that with you.”

Daily Maverick understands that disgruntled NHFC staff may now look to their union if the promised payment does not materialise.

Auditor-General not aware of payments

In a lengthy response sent to Daily Maverick this week, Mayekiso defended the proposed ex gratia payments.

“The environment at the NHFC is one of low staff morale due to the fact that there have been no bonuses paid since financial year 2022/23. In an attempt to address this, management took a proposal to the Board for them to consider showing goodwill to employees given the solid turn around [sic] in performance, by paying a once off ex-gratia [sic] payment to motivate employees to continue with the hard work.”

The most recent Auditor-General’s report shows that the NHFC met just 39% of its targets for the latest audited financial year. Mayekiso maintains, however, that the payments are justified because this represents a major turnaround from the 2022/2023 financial year, when just 19% of targets were met.

Mayekiso continued: “The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and National Treasury (NT) guidelines state that voluntary ex-gratia [sic] payments can be made without admitting legal liability. The PFMA and Treasury regulations provide frameworks for managing and approving such payments, including transparency and accountability.”

Treasury spokesperson Cleopatra Mosana told Daily Maverick: “The enabling legislation of a public entity generally regulates how the remuneration framework for the board and staff is determined. For some public entities, this is determined or approved by the executive authority of the entity after consultation with or with the concurrence of the minister of finance.”

The NHFC was established in 1996 in terms of the Companies Act, 1973 (Act No 61 of 1973) and falls under Schedule 3 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999). Neither of the above pieces of legislation appears to refer to ex gratia, or “act of grace”, payments.

The Auditor-General of SA’s (AGSA’s) spokesperson, Khutsafalo Mnisi, told Daily Maverick on Wednesday that the AGSA was unaware of the proposed NHFC ex gratia payments.

“The NHFC’s performance bonus is subject to both the company performance and the individual employee performance, as well as the availability of funds and subject to the approval of the board. All bonus payments are within the scope of the AGSA annual regularity audit, and if there are any payments or provisions for such in the current audit cycle, those will be subjected to the regularity audit process,” said Mnisi.

Ex gratia payments in South Africa’s state-owned entities have happened in the past — but almost always controversially, and seemingly in the thick of State Capture.

In 2014, it was revealed that the SABC under the leadership of Hlaudi Motsoeneng had paid employees a once-off ex gratia payment as part of a bonus payout amounting to R65.76-million.

In 2015, it was reported that Eskom under the leadership of Brian Molefe would also pay some employees ex gratia payments.

Thembi Simelane says no crisis at Human Settlements

Asked by Daily Maverick this week if Minister Thembi Simelane intended to approve the ex gratia payments, spokesperson Tsekiso Machike said it would be inappropriate for the minister to answer the NHFC’s request through the media.

“The minister applies her mind to each matter brought before her on its own merits,” said Machike.

Appearing before Parliament’s Human Settlements Committee on Wednesday, however, Simelane told MPs that the “morale” of NHFC staff was a concern and added that they had not been paid “performance upgrades” for “donkey years” — suggesting she was sympathetic to Mayekiso’s proposal.

Simelane also told Parliament that young female CEOs deserved support, and dismissed much of the concern around the NHFC as “trivialities”.

The department issued a statement last week denying DA MP Luyolo Mphithi’s claim this month that there had been a “catastrophic collapse of governance across several housing entities under the Department of Human Settlements”.

In it, Simelane “registered her displeasure” at the fact that the NHFC did not currently have a board in place but said she expected the process of appointing a new board to be concluded by May.

“There is no crisis at DHS entities. Whatever challenges they currently experience, they are not insurmountable and are being attended to,” read the statement.

Simelane was moved from her position at the Department of Justice in December 2024 by President Cyril Ramaphosa following damning reporting by Daily Maverick’s Pauli van Wyk and News24’s Kyle Cowan on a dodgy loan Simelane took from the now-collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.

Since then, Simelane has been further accused of fraudulently billing Eskom while in a previous position, prompting the DA to lay criminal charges against her as an act of protest at the fact that Ramaphosa has maintained her as a member of his Cabinet. DM