GIPF On Their Bosses

WE refer to an article that appeared in the Informanté newspaper of 25 September 2008 titled: ‘GIPF Bosses under the hammer over PA’, written by Toivo Ndjembela.

I would like to set the record straight and to correct inaccurate information contained in the article that has the potential to deceive and confuse the public. We confirm that Ms Katjirua resigned from the GIPF, where she was employed as the Company Secretary, to join a financial institution in the same position (Company Secretary) for a better offer.Your statement that Ms Katjirua was employed as a Personal Assistant to the CEO of GIPF as alleged in the article is therefore incorrect.As Company Secretary, she was responsible for providing secretariat services to the Board of Trustees.We confirm that when she tendered her resignation, the GIPF requested her to reconsider her decision, not only because she was a valued member of our team, but also because we were concerned about the continuity of the board secretariat function if she left.More importantly, Ms Katjirua was perfectly suited and qualified for the position in which she excelled.With her LLB qualification, she distinguished herself as a hardworking employee with outstanding skills and a positive attitude to work.Your article states that Ms Katjirua was offered a salary increase due to her resignation, which is incorrect.The counteroffer was made as an adjustment of remuneration to match the correct grading of the position.Last year the GIPF re-graded the position of the Company Secretary and, as a results of the evaluation, the position was upgraded.The grading of the new job she applied for as well as the offer she received from the financial institution confirmed that our remuneration scale was below that of the industry.The counter offer that was made to Ms Katjirua was therefore the results of the job re-grading exercise and it did not constitute an extraordinary salary increase as alleged in the article.Retaining the services of outstanding employees is in line with the strategic directives at the GIPF.Management will continue to exercise its mandate to retain the services of outstanding employees which is a common practice in the industry.Hence, there are numerous other examples where GIPF made counter offers when we wanted to retain the services of outstanding employees, just as was the case to try and retain Ms Katjirua.GIPF believes in conducting its operations in a transparent manner and ensure that all relevant procedures and policies are complied with.We would like to place on record that we regret the loss of such a dedicated employee and I would like to acknowledge her contributions to GIPF.We wish Ms Katjirua all the best in her new career.P Hango Chief Executive OfficerWe confirm that Ms Katjirua resigned from the GIPF, where she was employed as the Company Secretary, to join a financial institution in the same position (Company Secretary) for a better offer.Your statement that Ms Katjirua was employed as a Personal Assistant to the CEO of GIPF as alleged in the article is therefore incorrect.As Company Secretary, she was responsible for providing secretariat services to the Board of Trustees.We confirm that when she tendered her resignation, the GIPF requested her to reconsider her decision, not only because she was a valued member of our team, but also because we were concerned about the continuity of the board secretariat function if she left.More importantly, Ms Katjirua was perfectly suited and qualified for the position in which she excelled.With her LLB qualification, she distinguished herself as a hardworking employee with outstanding skills and a positive attitude to work.Your article states that Ms Katjirua was offered a salary increase due to her resignation, which is incorrect.The counteroffer was made as an adjustment of remuneration to match the correct grading of the position.Last year the GIPF re-graded the position of the Company Secretary and, as a results of the evaluation, the position was upgraded.The grading of the new job she applied for as well as the offer she received from the financial institution confirmed that our remuneration scale was below that of the industry.The counter offer that was made to Ms Katjirua was therefore the results of the job re-grading exercise and it did not constitute an extraordinary salary increase as alleged in the article.Retaining the services of outstanding employees is in line with the strategic directives at the GIPF.Management will continue to exercise its mandate to retain the services of outstanding employees which is a common practice in the industry.Hence, there are numerous other examples where GIPF made counter offers when we wanted to retain the services of outstanding employees, just as was the case to try and retain Ms Katjirua.GIPF believes in conducting its operations in a transparent manner and ensure that all relevant procedures and policies are complied with.We would like to place on record that we regret the loss of such a dedicated employee and I would like to acknowledge her contributions to GIPF.We wish Ms Katjirua all the best in her new career.P Hango Chief Executive Officer