Africa Wild

David Mabunda at the helm of Ezemvelo

11 December 2014 at 14:08 by Khatija Nxedlana - David Mabunda had been appointed acting CEO of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.

This comes two weeks after findings of a task team revealed that former CEO Bandile Mkhize and Chief Financial Officer Darius Chitate were behind the adjustment of salaries at Ezemvelo that had not been budgeted for.
The two were suspended earlier this month, and face a disciplinary hearing whose date is yet to be announced.
Briefing the media in Pietermaritzburg Economic development MEC, Mike Mabuyakhulu says Mabunda is no stranger to the conservation industry, being a former CEO of SanParks.
With him at the helm, he achieved 10 consecutive unqualified audits.
"and I must say that in Dr David Mabunda we really have someone that we are very happy with as a provincial government. Although we will have a very short stint because his contract will only be for a period not exceeding six months or such a lesser time, depending on when the issues of disciplinary proceedings against the CEO will be resolved."
But I'm actually happy that we have got a man of his calibre to be here during this period to steer the ship in the right direction," he said.
Ebrahim Mulla has been appointed the acting CFO.

Ezemvelo acting CEO to hit the ground running

11 December 2014 at 18:08 by Khatija Nxedlana - The newly-appointed acting CEO of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has identified areas within the organisation which he feels need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

David Mabunda will be at the helm of the conservation organisation following the suspension two weeks ago of CEO Bandile Mkhize and CFO Darius Chitate for being behind salary adjustments that were found to be unfair and not budgeted for.
Mabunda the former CEO of SanParks says his first port of call will be to stabilise the organisation by reassuring staff who he says are the biggest asset.
"There's an issue of HR systems, that together with the Human Resources Department, we need to address. The issues of people who have not been properly appointed for the last 10, 12 or six years, people that are temporary [employed] - we need to address those matters. It's not going to happen over night, it's going to be a long process," he said.

Ay-yi-yi!

Mmmm...not sure about this!

Anyone for a few hotels in KZN reserves

Why did David "resign" from SANParks

SANParks man to head Ezemvelo

December 12 2014 at 11:10am
By Colleen Dardagan

Durban - The former chief executive of the Kruger National Park and South Africa’s National Parks (SANParks), David Mabunda, will take over from suspended Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife head Bandile Mkhize, it was announced in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.

Mike Mabuyakhulu, MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs said at the KZN conservation body’s head offices in Pietermaritzburg that Mabunda would act in the position for six months with former Treasury employee Ebrahim Moolla taking on the financial hot seat, also in an acting position.

Mkhize and his chief financial officer, Darius Chitate, were suspended two weeks ago by Mabuyakhulu, pending the outcome of a disciplinary inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement.

Their suspension followed the outcome of a task team report investigating a restructuring process started by Mkhize that saw a few senior managers getting pay increases totalling R20 million while at least 700 vacancies remained unfilled in the field.



Mabuyakhulu has ordered the staff who benefited to pay the money back.

Yesterday he said having Mabunda to “stabilise” the organisation was ideal because of his experience in conservation.

Mabuyakhulu said Mabunda’s most notable achievement was the commercialisation of SANParks by increasing revenue from R234 million in 2003 to R1.3bn last year.

Mabunda retired from SANParks earlier this year after 10 years service. His retirement was announced after the controversial R1 billion Malamala Reserve land claim was settled by the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs. Mabunda was a shareholder and director of the reserve and allegedly benefited from the settlement.

Noted conservationist Roger Porter, who was also the former head of Conservation Planning at Ezemvelo and worked for the entity for 39 years, said Mabunda’s appointment was ideal to build relationships between the national department, SANParks and the provincial conservation body.

“I think the national minister, Edna Molewa, will be greatly encouraged by this appointment. I think it will cement the relationships between SANParks (and Ezemvelo) going into the future.”

He said conservation in KwaZulu-Natal was in a crisis and that under the circumstances Mabunda’s leadership style was ideal.

“The morale among the staff at Ezemvelo is so low. He has the personality to get people to work with him as a team leader.

“He is not autocratic. I am so encouraged and hopeful that this appointment will result in the present circumstances improving substantially. This was the perfect choice for the position,” he said.

When asked if the rescue plan for Ezemvelo included an amalgamation with SANParks, Mabunda did not rule it out.

He said it was imperative that rhino protection topped the agenda, and to continue getting the public to throw their weight behind the fight against poaching, Ezemvelo had to show it was “looking after the money (donations)”.

The Mercury

Amalgamation does not resolve problems with mismanagement Just get the two houses in order (Ezemvelo and SANParks) and live up to your mandate

Ja...not so sure about this at all...

Dr Mabunda did benefit from the Malamala business, his CFO also resigned...some of his top aides were suspended/left...SANParks also need to "show where their rhino money is" IMO...

Strange, as one shouldn't try to put a "rescuer" in charge with a 6 month contract...and then he's gone? How does that boost morale?

Anyway, "amalgamation" seems to be the red flag here.