NEWSYOU'RE TO KNOW

GROOKSAT

OASIS BOSSES BULLY STAFF 20 NAVY FLOGS BARGAIN BOATS 23BOARDROOM BACKSTABBING IN JOBURG 24 STATE PROFITS FROM

ABALONE POACHING 28 CRY ME A RIVER 31

NOT SUPPOSED

selFs\

C{

zcPFt\)OtsN

.f:

^-A-

- e

-s

- a

- r

O)

Three uncles in thefinancial business

Buttytng Oasis bosses turn out to be grtm brothers

OIIR STORY begins at the CapeTown headquarters of Oasis AssetManagement. On 28 February 2008,a young - and brave, it will latertranspire - Rizqa Abdullah, a 2007Financial Information Systems grad-uate of the Cape Peninsula Universityof Technology, commenced employmentwith Oasis Group Holdings, atthefu 22Riebeek Street, Cape Town, premises.

Some quite prominent people haveat one time or another been associatedwith Oasis, among them Western CapeJudge President John Hlophe, who,controversially, was on their payrolland moonlighting for them in and outofcourt (see box). The founder-directorsof Oasis are the brothers Ebrahim:Shaheen. Adam and Nazeem.

In May 2008, two months into heremployment, Abdullah requested andwas allowed a transfer to join Oasis'sfive-person Information Systemsdepartment tasked with an importantIT project called Project Bela. She lovedher job and later described her imme-diate boss, Mohamed Khan, as, "a goodmanager who did not compromise whohe was for Oasis" . Oh-oh - do we detecta hint ofunhappiness here?

Yes, it wasn't long before Abdullahsaw and heard how badly the brothersEbrahim treated other members of staffand managers, including MohamedKhan. Project Bela was understaffed,time and resources were few, and, toadd to I(han's woes. he was on thereceiving end of a campaign of harass-ment, victimisation and swearing bythe Ebrahims. Abdullah could see thetoll that this was taking on Khan'shealth. She would have left sooner hadshe not believed she owed Khan moralsupport, although herselfkeeping a lowprofiIe. She also felt protected in thatshe worked for and reported to Khan.As time went by, she also overheard

20

"Hand over your cellphone"

what went on in management meetingsand became ever more disenchantedwith her new big bosses. She would

later testif! that other Oasis staffweredesperate to work under Khan in orderto "escape the madness".

losomel Jnruunnv2012

The Ebrahim brothers (circled from left to right) Nazeem, Shaheen and Adam with Lord Mayorof London Michael Bear, London Sheriff Richard Sermon and UK Trade Commissioner toSouth Africa Andrew Henderson in London earlier thrs vear

Khan finally had a bellful of theEbrahims' tirades and on 27 Auzust2010 handed in his notice

Presumably tired of going to workwith her heart in her mouth andwondering when it would be her turnto be harassed, victimised and verballvabused by the terrible trio, she to-oresolved to hand in her letter of resig-nation. On 30 August 2010 she arrivedat work - resignation letter in her bae- and found the IS department's offic6door locked, only to 6e bld that theIS and IT departments had been inte-grated. She was told her boss had beenmoved to the 22nd floor.

There she found Khan sitting ,,inisolation" at a desk, with only a not-epadand pen in flont of him. NazeemEbrahim was standing next to thedesk. One could have .nt th" air witha knife. Her heart was thumping. Sheknew flom Khan's look that she shouldnot approach him. She recalled howanother employee who had resignedwas made to sit in an isolated areaof the building which was filled withboxes, reading the newspapers daily forthree months.

Khan's position had been taken overby Oasis IT Manager, Jay P Khailan,and so she handed her letter of resis-nation to him. It was headed: ,'NotiLof resignation effective 1 September2070". In the letter she undertookto fulfil her "duties and responsibili-ties whilst I am still here lthere wasa three-month notice period stipulated,in her contractl and ensure that all ofmy responsibilities are handed overcorrectly''.

But Oasis preferred to take her letterto mean that her last day of employ-ment would be Sl August 2010.

Nazeem Ebrahim then proceeded tomake any thought of her staying on forthe notice period impossible: he bulliedher, sayingher letter ofresignation indi-cated that she wanted to leave Oasisimmediately. Not so, said Abdullah. Henevertheless took immediate steps toforce her immediate departure.

Abdullah then approached theCommission for Conciliation, MediationandArbitration (CCMA) in Cape Town,alleging constructive dismissal.

This is where our story really begins.The CCMA heard that, on the dav of

tendering her resignation, (new b6ss)Khailan excluded her from a joint ISand IT lunchtime staff meeting. Hereturned from the meeting and askedher whether she would be leaving"today or tomorrow", telling her hewould let her go "today".

She replied that she intended to workher three-month notice period as shedidn't have another job lined up - andthat her colleague Junaid Hoosen wasdue to take leave in October 2010.

Khailan told her in no uncertainterms that she would not be workingout her notice in the IS/IT departments- which is where her training and skillslay - and, furthermore, Hoosen's leavewas no concern of hers. He demandedshe hand over, forbhwith, her company-issue laptop and access cards to thebuilding, her department, and variousother conference rooms including the20th-floor boardroom and the smallresearch boardroom on the 21st floor.

Khailan then instructed anotheremployee to accompanyAbdullah to theoffice of Mohamed Bayat, Oasis HumanResources and Training Manager,for him to decree where she would beplaced. Bayat told her that NazeemEbrahim would "decide what wouldhappen to her". But he was in a meeting.Bayat disappeared, leaving her sittingin his office. When he returned he toldher that it "appears from the facts" thatshe owed Oasis money and would haveto sign an acknowledgement of debt.

She found herselfcornered by Bayat,HR administrator Anis Cassim andNazeem Ebrahim - who persisted intelling her that her resignation letterindicated she wanted to leave forth-with. She insisted that she wanted towork out her three-month notice period.

Abdullah had learned flom otherOasis employees that it is wise torecord conversations with Oasis bosses.And so it was that she put her cell-phone on recording mode and placedit in her jacket pocket. But the wilyNazeem Ebrahim was alive to the factthat cellphone recording was standardoperating procedure for troubled Oasisstaff,Recording:Nazeem: Put your jacket ouer thereplease. Put your jachet ouer there.Where's your cellphone? Tahe your cell-phone out. Leaue it outside. Put yourbag outside.Abdullah: Uncle Nazeern!Nazeem: I am no uncle Nazeem. Leaueyour cellphone outside or I'll fire youwithout any whatsername. Leaue yourcellphone.Abdullah: Uncle Nazeem. I wanted toworlz out...Nazeem: Leaue your cellphone outside.End ofrecording.

At the CCMA, Abdullah's case washeard by respected, no-nonsense

Life in thefast trackPROFESSOR Mohamed SayheedBayat was fired by the CapePeninsula University of Technologyon 1 February 201 0 after a thoroughenquiry headed by respected labourlaw expert Sarah Christie. She foundthat he had committed fraud, hadaltered students'marks and had "fast-tracked"a Tourism and Hospitalitystudent's Master's thesis.

t ln0lemol Jnrunnv 2012

commissioner Ursula Bulbring.In her 4 July 2011judgment she says:'Abdullah said that the staff call the

directors 'uncle'. She took her bag andjacket out. She heard Nazeem sayingsomething about "make her sign it".She returned to Bayat's office. It wassmall (about 4.5 by 3 metres). She knewthat other employees had been forcedto sign AODs and she knew not to signit. Nazeem told her to sit down; he thenwhispered to Bayat and Bayat said thatshe would move to the 20th floor board-room to resolve the issue. Abdullahasked if they could take the stairs.Nazeem said that they would go wherehe said they would go. A decision wasmade to go to the small research board-room on the 21st floor. Abdullah saidthat Nazeem [Ebrahiml was "aggres-sive, hostile and in her space". She wasconcerned about going into the researchboardroom because entrance is gainedwith an access card. She disputed thatthere was a key in a glass door through

which she could exit (she had workedin that room before). She believed thatshe would be trapped. If she went in,she could not exit (she had handed inher access card). Abdullah said thatshe was scared; it was Ramadan, shedid not want to be alone with them inthe boardroom. At least in Bayat's officethere were glass windows and every-body around could see and hear.

"Nazeem was saying that she'd haveto pay in her leave and notice (in theform of forfeiture of her provident fund)because she was leaving early. She,sawthe lift doors opening and saw it asher chance to mn. She ran into the liltand noticed (HR man) Cassim runningtowards the lift too. She exited the liltand leapt over the turnstiles at the foyerof Oasis building and ran down LongStreet."

The CCMA hearing was conductedover four days between 12 November2010 and 23 June 2011. Oasis wasto be represented by one of its senior

managers, Ridwan Kajee.On the first day, Bayat aPPeared and

sought a postponement on the basis thatKajee hadviral meningitis and, further-more, he, Bayat, was, "not prePared orqualified to deal with the matter".

Commissioner Bulbring would havenone of it and agreed with Abdullah'slawyer Richard Brown that Kajee hadplayed no material role in her departureftom the company.Bulbring: "Bayat was present on theday Abdullah left; Bayat is an experi-enced HR practitioner (a professor oftourism management and a dean of abusiness faculty) and could ably repre-sent the company." lMaybe -but see Box2.1Bulbring: 'Abdullah is relieved to nolonger work at the company. She foundNazeems's shouting [at her on thatdayl and swearing unbearable. He wasrude, abrupt, intimidating. Her fatherwould never speak to her like that. Hehad once come into the IS departmentand suggested an overweight colleaguetake a walk around the block. Shebelieves that the general public regardthe company as a "tyrant" for the wayit conducts its business. The companyhas not cooperated with her to obtainthe release of her pension fund' HRhad not responded to several requests.Other former employees also struggledto receive payment (Bayat confirmedduring his evidence that there weretwo complaints to the Pension FundsAdjudicator)."

Apart ffom being the comPany's"Iawyer" for the proceedings, Bayatwas also a witness. The commissionerwas singularly unimpressed with his"evidence":Bulbring: "Bayat faced a conundmmin giving evidence. [The uersion giueninl His email of 9 September 2010 toAbdullah was not supported bythe tran-script flom the recording. Following thegrving of their evidence and the cross-examination, I found that neither Bayatnor Cassim were credible witnesses.Khailan was a compelling witness wholargely contradicted the evidence ofhistwo colleagues, Cassim and Bayat. Tomy mind, the words uttered by Nazeem'sign the document, compensate us andIeave'were designed to make continuedemployment impossible."

Nazeem, an attorney and "Head ofGroup Compliance", did not take thestand to testify. Commissioner Bulbringfound that Abdullah had been constmc-tively dismissed and awarded her sixmonths'pay - an amount of R108 000. I

22

Oh, that Oasis remuneration!THE AFRICAN Christian Democratic Partylaid a complaint with the Judicial ServiceCommission regarding Judge JohnHlophe's tax evasion.The JSC assembleda committee of three to investigateJudge Hlophe's relationship with, andpayments from, Oasis.They were: AppealCourt President Craig Howie, NorthGauteng High CourtJudge PresidentBernard Ngoepe and disgraced Advocateseth Nthai, sc.

The transcript of the 13 September2006 evidence makes interestingreading when the possibil i ty of JudgeHlophe having committed tax evasionis discussed:Howie P: Did you declare it [fhe Odstsincomel?Hlophe JP:To the best of my knowl-edge Sir, my tax is up to date and Ibrought proof thereof...Howie P: My question was, did whatyou declare include the remunerationfrom Oasis?Hlophe JP: I don't remember what wasthe arrangement between myself andOasis with regard to tax in particularbut I have not had anyqueries raisedfrom the tax authorities.Howie P: Would you just check, wedon't want tax details that don't have

anything to do with this. The questionis simply whether the receipts fromOasis were declared.Hlophe JP: OK.lHlophe iP is then excused.lNgoepe JP:The reference to the taxreturns... I don't know where that isgoing to lead... that, which may besomething else altogether... lwasbecoming quite uncomfortable aboutsuch direction because what if some-body hears that he has not disclosedthat in his tax returns, which means acriminal offence and reallY...Howie P: That is not a comPlaint.lReally, Judge Howie? ParagraPh 4 ofthe ACDP complaint was all obout "taxevasion". -Edl

On 13 July 2007 Judge HloPhe wrotea letter to the JSC in which he pointedout: "My application for tax amnestYis currently pending before SARSwith regard to some income, whichwas not t imeousiy declared. I amcurrently awaiting the outcome of thisapplicationl'

Ja wetl no fine.Another curious detail: Oasis had

paid Hlophe's "fees" directlY to theTing Trust, a trust controlled by JudgeHlophe.

msemeL J,qruunnv2012