The Kaya FM employee who blew the whistle on allegations of sexual harassment against Greg Maloka was allegedly sniffed out and victimised after a witch hunt that was launched by the station bosses.
The riveting titbits are contained in a findings report compiled by Johannesburg-based lawyer Brenda Madumise, who was hired by the station to probe allegations of sexual harassment, among other things, against Maloka.
According to the report, which Africa Daily has seen, the witch hunt was conducted by one of Kaya FM’s senior employees, Nizaam Ajouhaar, to identify the whistleblower .
This was after a WhatsApp message containing a galaxy of allegations under the headline “Corruption at Kaya FM – Delinquent Board” was circulated among staff members.
Madumise stated that the victimisation of the victim was discovered when they interviewed former Kaya FM chief financial officer, identified only as Linda.
“It is gravely concerning to us that Nizaam Ajouhaar sought to identify the author of the whistleblower allegations. Through the interview with Linda and others, we learnt that Nizaam had looked through the properties of the Word document and had identified the author of the allegations.
“This was then, according to Linda, communicated to other senior staff,” reads the report.
Madumise said the whistleblower, identified as Trinisha, had resigned at the end of July 2020 .
While serving her 30-day notice period , Trinisha, who reported directly to Ajouhaar and human resources employee Bheki Khumalo, was later placed on garden leave and did not serve out her notice on the company premises.
This was under the pretext that Trinisha had access to sensitive Kaya FM information.
“Bheki Khumalo has provided evidence that she (Trinisha) had queried whether this was a common practice and was told by Linda and Nizaam that it was. However, it did feel that the reasoning was problematic, as more senior employees than the employee concerned had not been asked to serve their notice away from the Kaya FM premises,” reads the report.
The report further states that Trinisha received a WhatsApp message from a Kaya FM employee identified only as Brenda on 4 August 2020 informing her that tracking of the document had confirmed that she authored and circulated it.
According to the report, Trinisha was “very afraid for her safety.”
When interviewed on 3 November 2020, Ajouhaar stated that he had checked the properties of the document to establish who wrote it and subsequently notified Maloka by telephone.
“He further instructed Greg on how to find the author. He denied Linda’s version that he told other senior members of staff who the author was.
“Mr Ajouhaar notes that a friend in Cape Town later picked up a co-author on the document, another employee at Kaya FM. Nizaam admits that part of the reason the employee was requested not to fulfil her notice period was because of the suspicion that she was the author,” reads the report.
The report further states that Ajouhaar was informed that he may have breached the Protected Disclosures Amendment Act 5 of 2017 and also created an occupational detriment for Trinisha by investigating and revealing her identity. He was also told that he may consequently have exposed the employee to harassment, as well as creating the perception among staff that she had been dismissed for writing the allegations.
Africa Daily reported this week that consternation has engulfed female employees at Kaya FM 95.9 who previously accused Maloka of sexual harassment after the station’s majority shareholder rehired him.
AME, which owns a majority stake in Kaya FM, has rehired Maloka as a commercial partner of its other entity, United Stations, which sells advertising for the station.
Maloka is now occupying an office that was allocated to Linda, on the third floor of the building in Parkview, where the executives sit.
Before his return, Kaya FM acting managing executive Dave Tiltmann allegedly asked staff whether they would be comfortable with Maloka rejoining the entity. He allegedly received no response.
Maloka jumped ship in 2020 while the company was investigating allegations of sexual harassment and financial misconduct against him.
Despite resigning during the course of the investigation, Madumise made adverse findings against him.
Madumise’s report found that Maloka had exposed Kaya FM to potential litigation through his alleged indiscretions.
Tiltmann declined to comment.
