Dear Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements,

Please do something about the operational/administrative issue that is driving inefficiency at the PPRA. It began at the top, with the Board, when it picked a CEO who the chairman and minister desired rather than a person who is qualified to fill the post. She did not initially qualify for the position; but, the Board got imaginative, re-advertised the position, and adjusted the qualifications to her. I've seen the PPRA's standards for executives, with some requiring an MBA, but for the CEO job, the requirements were not even an honours degree; how do you manage individuals who are not at your level in terms of qualifications, I don't understand. Come on, there is no way that the CEO of PPRA was a top contender. The staff tells me that the legal manager is always on the phone with her during critical meetings, including board meetings, to help her answer questions from the board, or she will text the question, and the legal manager will respond in the same way, a proof that she is not capable of securing a top position on merits. Apparently, the CEO is doing the same thing by appointing her pals. Stakeholder officer did not satisfy the job's minimum criteria, but she was the person the CEO wanted, and after being interviewed by a panel of friends, she was hired. The individual chosen as an inspection officer does not meet the qualifications; HR is aware of this, but she is nevertheless appointed. The HR manager has no good record (she lacks morals and ethics) for holding such an influential job, as the CEO and her supervisor are aware, but she was appointed nevertheless. Her scandals include being charged with gross misconduct for accepting and handing over a cv for a job application for someone she worked with after the closing date, appointing people who lack qualifications for certain positions, failing to conduct background checks, admitting to having dropped the ball, and later firing those people when employees complain. Appointing her lover to a management position without matching the remuneration to the policy. Mistreating employees; supposedly, she mistreated a pregnant woman to the point that she lost her other child; while she was on maternity leave, the HR manager unfairly withheld her money; the CEO was informed, but she did nothing. Later, an investigation was initiated, revealing that the HR manager was mistaken. Guess what happened. Nothing occurred to the human resources manager. The strike in 2023 was triggered by the same person; she used to report lies, according to staff. All of this does not sound like things will improve with her in charge of people; the longer PPRA continues to have dissatisfied employees due to politics, the more we will suffer as stakeholders. One staff member I spoke with expressed serious concern about how the current CEO is getting away with hiring unqualified people when the board made a statement against such behaviour during the former CEO's tenure and she was even fired, but the current CEO is not reversing anything; she is continuing where the former left off. Why is there so little action on the board? How is this so? Who's behind this? Who is deceiving who? Also, supply chain activities for the chairman/CEO are handled by a single person and not anyone else in the department. The CEO called a meeting in April and lashed out at employees, telling them that one individual is pushing service providers to hire his wife after awarding them contracts, while another is tampering with the system so that he can contact his pals to fix it and then claim. Apparently, she informed the staff that such people were recognised and that she would suspend and deal with them, but nothing occurred. So, please check out the PPRA before it is too late; the company does not even have money; employees have been paid from the FUND for years, but the corporation is generous with its spending. The annual report will tell it all. The CEO suspended the CFO when he refused to cook the report.