A great deal of work lies ahead to get the Free State Development Corporation (FDC) fully recovered after its collapse.
Appointed in December last year, the FDC board is yet to achieve sound financial governance, which is fundamental to its mandate to attract potential investors and revive the province’s stagnant economy.
Dr David Mohale, chairperson, said the board was on track to implement a recovery plan and rebuild the entity, after a strategic planning session held on 3 and 4 November in Bloemfontein. The board outlined strides made since taking office in February this year.
“Given the number of historical pathologies that we inherited and continue to grapple with, the board is fully aware that at best, we can and will build a solid foundation for the possible turnaround of the entity, from which the people of the Free State can build in the foreseeable future.”
Mohale conceded that the board’s full revival of the entity within three years was not possible, given the complexity of the challenges – adding that five years would be the ideal time frame in which to execute the full recovery plan.
The current board took office following the dissolution of the former in June last year, after it was deemed dysfunctional.
As part of stabilising the FDC, vacant positions at executive and senior management level have been filled. These include the portfolios of group board audit; risk and performance; human resources; remuneration and recruitment; investments and finance; information technology and infrastructure; and legal and compliance.
Mohale said for effective oversight of the audit, risk and performance committees, Muso Selaledi was appointed independent chairperson. Demonstrating commitment to good governance and management, Mohale said the FDC signed a performance agreement contract with Thabo Lebelo as chief executive officer.
