Sipho Pityana hails victory in court battle with PA, Absa: 'I was subjected to scurrilous abuse'

Stephen Grootes interviews Sipho Pityana on The Money Show.

Prominent business figure Sipho Pityana has won his court case against Absa and the SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority (PA) over his nomination as Absa chairperson in 2021.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled on Friday that the PA broke the law and exceeded its powers when it objected to the nomination.

PItyana, already a member of the Absa board at the time, claimed that the Authority had effectively blocked his appointment as the result of 'informal' discussions around claims of sexual harassment.

He had previously served as chair of AngloGold Ashanti.

Pityana welcomes the ruling, saying it not only serves as a vindication of his character, but raises serious issues of governance in relation to an important institution and the financial services environment in general.

While he says the leadership of the Reserve Bank have displayed 'incredible' professionalism over the years that he's known them, in this instance there were people who 'didn't know how to deal with the matter of nomination of somebody to be a director of a board or to be a public officer of a bank'.

"In my over 20 years sitting on boards in the private sector this was the third instance where I've been through this, but I've never seen anything like it before..."

Sipho Pityana, Former Board Member - Absa

"The processes are prescribed in law, there's a regulatory instrument used to guide Reserve Bank officials... and it's very clear there that if you may have been convicted either through a disciplinary process or a court of law for any number of transgressions, you must disclose those and that then becomes a basis for an enquiry..."

Sipho Pityana, Former Board Member - Absa

In this instance where he was investigated around unsubstantiated claims of sexual harassment, he fully cooperated, says Pityana.

"...I gave access to any information you can think of... and to be treated as if I'd been convicted of sexual harassment by the PA was incredible, and then leading them to conclude basically that I was not a fit and proper person in the way that they communicated to the Absa leadership was completely scurrilous abuse of authority."

Sipho Pityana, Former Board Member - Absa

Listen to the full conversation in the interview audio at the top of the article