LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
First Capital Bank chairman and director Sydney Mtsambiwa has stepped down from the board to address issues arising from an audit report at Tongaat Hulett, the bank said yesterday.
The board appointed Patrick Devenish as chairman with effect from December 10 2019.
In a statement yesterday First Capital Bank said: “The First Capital Bank Limited regrets to advise that Sydney Mtsambiwa has relinquished his position as director and chairman of the bank to enable him to address the issues arising from PwC report on Tongaat Hulett where he was senior executive for many years.”
A PwC report on Tongaat unearthed financial misstatements at the sugar producer. The misstatements include the overstatement of the carrying amount of cane roots and standing cane, the overstatement of the carrying amount of capital work in progress and plant and machinery as a result of the inappropriate capitalisation of maintenance and other internal costs to capital projects, and the overstatement of sugar sales in Zimbabwe.
The report recommended disciplinary action to be taken against senior executives including Mtsambiwa.
“From the PwC Investigation, it appears that personal financial enrichment of key senior employees was largely limited to the financial incentives paid to them during the years in which they achieved their employment targets,” the report said.
“The PwC Investigation found that the senior executives involved in some or all of the above practices, to a greater or lesser extent, include, inter alia, in alphabetical order, John Chibwe (Hippo Valley Estates Finance Director), Michael Deighton (former managing director of THD) and Steve Frampton (former Zimbabwe Sugar Sales General Manager).
“Others include Shelton Nhari (Triangle Finance Director), Sydney Mtsambiwa (former managing director of THL’s Zimbabwean operations), Les Munro (former Finance Executive of Tongaat Hulett SA Sugar), Murray Munro (former Chief Financial Officer of THL), Raphael Pfunye (Zimbabwe Sugar Sales Finance Executive), Sean Slabbert (former Finance Executive of THL) and Peter Staude (former chief executive officer of THL).”
Mtsambiwa has disputed the allegations.
