SSC chief suspended

THE Social Security Commission’s decision to invest N$30 million with an unproven asset management company, Avid Investment Corporation, claimed its most prominent head yet yesterday, when SSC Chief Executive Officer Tuli Hiveluah was suspended from his post.

Hiveluah’s suspension was confirmed by the Deputy Chairman of the SSC’s board of Commissioners, Dirk Sobotta, and also by SSC spokesperson Rino Muranda late yesterday. Sobotta said Hiveluah had been suspended pending an internal investigation of the SSC’s investment of money through Avid.The SSC’s Commissioners recommended the suspension to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, who this week decided to implement the recommendation, Sobotta said.He said it was too early to say how long the suspension would last, as it would depend on the investigation and, possibly, a disciplinary hearing that might follow, depending on evidence that came to light.Hiveluah was informed of the decision yesterday.The SSC’s General Manager: Operations, David Keendjele, will be acting as CEO in the meantime, Sobotta added.Hiveluah’s suspension had been expected for close to a month – since the SSC board decided in early July to recommend such a move to the Minister.However, a serious car accident in which Labour Minister Alpheus !Naruseb was involved three weeks ago delayed a decision on the board’s recommendation, Sobotta indicated.Hiveluah is the third high-level casualty at the SSC as a result of the Avid investment.The first senior SSC official to face the axe over the decision to entrust N$30 million to a company that had only a wafer-thin record of previous investment experience – a single investment of N$10 million, which was returned late to the investor, the Navachab gold mine – was the then Manager: Corporate Finance, Gideon Mulder, who was suspended in mid-April, and dismissed in mid-May.The second casualty was an immediate superior of Mulder, the General Manager: Finance and Administration, Avril Green, who was suspended on July 18.According to a letter from Hiveluah to Green to inform him of his suspension, the purpose was “to allow investigations into the dealings that led to the investment of N$30 million with Avid”.Hiveluah, Green and Mulder were intimately involved in the Avid decision.As part of this involvement, Green and Mulder together signed a letter dated January 21 in which Avid was informed that the SSC had decided to invest N$30 million with the young company for a four-month period at an offered interest rate of 14,65 per cent a year.Green has since claimed that he soon had second thoughts about that decision, and gave instructions for the deal to be cancelled.He has claimed that in his absence, however, Mulder and Hiveluah went ahead with the investment.Mulder and Hiveluah together signed an instruction, also dated January 21, through which the SSC’s bank was told to transfer N$30 million to Avid.Hiveluah’s signature was dated January 27, though – and according to the SSC bank statements, the N$30 million was transferred to Avid on the previous day, January 26, already.Sobotta said Hiveluah had been suspended pending an internal investigation of the SSC’s investment of money through Avid.The SSC’s Commissioners recommended the suspension to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, who this week decided to implement the recommendation, Sobotta said. He said it was too early to say how long the suspension would last, as it would depend on the investigation and, possibly, a disciplinary hearing that might follow, depending on evidence that came to light.Hiveluah was informed of the decision yesterday.The SSC’s General Manager: Operations, David Keendjele, will be acting as CEO in the meantime, Sobotta added.Hiveluah’s suspension had been expected for close to a month – since the SSC board decided in early July to recommend such a move to the Minister.However, a serious car accident in which Labour Minister Alpheus !Naruseb was involved three weeks ago delayed a decision on the board’s recommendation, Sobotta indicated.Hiveluah is the third high-level casualty at the SSC as a result of the Avid investment.The first senior SSC official to face the axe over the decision to entrust N$30 million to a company that had only a wafer-thin record of previous investment experience – a single investment of N$10 million, which was returned late to the investor, the Navachab gold mine – was the then Manager: Corporate Finance, Gideon Mulder, who was suspended in mid-April, and dismissed in mid-May.The second casualty was an immediate superior of Mulder, the General Manager: Finance and Administration, Avril Green, who was suspended on July 18.According to a letter from Hiveluah to Green to inform him of his suspension, the purpose was “to allow investigations into the dealings that led to the investment of N$30 million with Avid”.Hiveluah, Green and Mulder were intimately involved in the Avid decision.As part of this involvement, Green and Mulder together signed a letter dated January 21 in which Avid was informed that the SSC had decided to invest N$30 million with the young company for a four-month period at an offered interest rate of 14,65 per cent a year.Green has since claimed that he soon had second thoughts about that decision, and gave instructions for the deal to be cancelled. He has claimed that in his absence, however, Mulder and Hiveluah went ahead with the investment. Mulder and Hiveluah together signed an instruction, also dated January 21, through which the SSC’s bank was told to transfer N$30 million to Avid.Hiveluah’s signature was dated January 27, though – and according to the SSC bank statements, the N$30 million was transferred to Avid on the previous day, January 26, already.