Golding quits after court bid fails

HOSKEN Consolidated Investments (HCI) executive chairman Marcel Golding has resigned, citing a broken relationship of confidence and trust between him and board members.

This comes after the Labour Court rubbished the claim that he was ousted over political interference in independent television station e.tv.

However, the court acknowledged that Golding's claims were serious and should not be swept under the carpet. Yesterday, the Labour Court in Cape Town ruled on the former trade unionist's urgent bit to halt a disciplinary hearing into his actions, due to start yesterday.

Dismissing the urgent application, Judge Anton Steenkamp described Golding's urgency as "self-created", saying that he was well aware that his week-long disciplinary hearing was due to start yesterday.

Golding – who earned a monthly salary from HCI of R480239 – faces five counts of misconduct for dereliction of duty, gross negligence, dishonesty, breach of his fiduciary duty and breach of the company's ethics policy. Golding claims the disciplinary action and his suspension last week were motivated by an "ulterior to force him out" of the company he co-founded with partner Johnny Copely.

He accused Yunus Shaik, South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union representative on the HCI board, of attempting to interfere in e.tv's editorial independence.

HCI is a shareholder in e.tv's owner, Sabido.

But according to HCI, Golding was suspended after buying a secret R24-million stake in electronics company Ellies Holdings without consulting any of HCI Managerial Services' directors. Steenkamp rubbished Golding's claims, saying they were not borne out by evidence.

"The charges forming the basis of the disciplinary hearing that the applicant seeks to interdict have no bearing on editorial content," he said.

In court papers, Golding cites an e-mail Shaik allegedly sent him in March in which he says that a good lead story for the station to run was that President Jacob Zuma was opening a new dam as "building of dams is a big issue and has big impact on our country".

Steenkamp described these allegations as serious and "on the face of it, not without substance".

"It is indeed startling and harks back to the tragic time in our history when ministers of the apartheid regime sometimes dictated the contents of news broadcasts on the SABC; that a director of HCI should suggest to the directors of e.tv what they should carry as a lead story on the evening news at the behest of a cabinet minister," he said.

Steenkamp also denied Golding's request to return to work, adding that any harm to his reputation would be overturned if he was found not guilty of the misconduct allegations.

Golding has also applied for the matter to be heard at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). - Aarti J Narsee