Barbara Hogan resigns from HCI board in wake of Golding furore

barbaraBy Alec Hogg

Respected former cabinet minister Barbara Hogan (right) has resigned from the board of BEE group HCI as a direct result of the pressure being imposed on executive chairman Marcel Golding.  Hogan tendered her resignation last night.

In 2009, Hogan was rated by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She had been introduced into the ANC Government’s cabinet as Health Minister by former President Kgalema Motlanthe. Hogan received plaudits from the private sector after being appointed at Minister of Public Enterprises, but was axed from the post by Motlanthe’s successor, President Jacob Zuma.

The central figure in Golding’s allegations of political interference in HCI-owned 12m viewer e.tv channel is Yunis Shaik, a non executive director of the holding company. Shaik is the brother of Shabir Shaik who was sentenced to prison (but has since been released for health reasons) the “fixer” who was described by in court as having a “generally corrupt relationship” for SA President Jacob Zuma.

HCI’s SENS announcement says the company “note (sic) the resignation of Barbara Hogan from our board and express our somewhat surprise at the hostile manner in which it is couched and publicly distributed. We thank Barbara for her services to HCI and assure the public that, perhaps other than Marcel himself, no other board members of HCI see this matter similarly.”

Two of the other independent non executive directors of HCI, Leslie Maasdorp and Moretlo Molefi, both confirmed to me this morning that they will not be resigning from the board.

The HCI web site’s bio of Hogan reads:

Ms Hogan worked at Development Bank of South Africa as an Institutional Specialist until her appointment as a Member of Parliament in 1994. She served as Chair of numerous committees including the Budget Committee, Finance Portfolio Committee the Standing Committee of the Auditor-General. She also served on the Standing Committee of Public Accounts and on the Finance Sub-Committee of the Constitutional Assembly and the Accounting Standards Board. She was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Health in 2008 and then as Minister of Public Enterprises in 2009. Ms Hogan has received 2 honorary doctorates from American Universities and numerous other accolades including being named as one of the 100 most influential thinkers in the world by Time Magazine in 2009. Ms Hogan was appointed to the Board of HCI in August 2012.

The Bloomberg report follows below:

Barbara Hogan, a former South African minister of public enterprises, resigned from the board of investment company Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd. (HCI) amid a legal battle over the suspension of Chairman Marcel Golding.

“We note the resignation of Barbara Hogan from our board and express our somewhat surprise at the hostile manner in which it is couched and publicly distributed,” the Cape Town-based company said in a statement today, without disclosing the nature of her remarks.

Hogan wasn’t immediately available for comment when contacted by phone today. Kevin Govender, Hosken financial director, didn’t answer a phone call seeking comment.

Hosken is embroiled in a legal battle after suspending chairman Golding for a purchase of shares in television-equipment maker Ellies Holdings Ltd., which the company said was unauthorized. Golding said his opposition to political interference over the news agenda of e.tv, which Hosken controls, is the real reason behind his suspension.

Hogan was Public Enterprises Minister from 2009 to 2010 and was a member of the ruling African National Congress during the struggle against white-minority rule during the apartheid era. She is married to Ahmed Kathrada, a former prisoner on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela.

Hosken is a black-empowerment investment company, set up to take advantage of legislation seeking to make up for discrimination in the apartheid era, when non-white South Africans were hindered from participating in the economy. The laws include compelling the sale of stakes in companies to non-white South Africans.

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