Yesterday marked a significant milestone in EOH’s journey towards closing off its inherited legacy issues and holding those responsible for the governance failings that took place accountable. In reference to the recent TechCentral article, EOH can confirm that it has filed civil claims and is suing a number of former EOH executives, including Asher Bohbot (former CEO), John King (former CFO), Jehan Mackay (former Head of Public Sector) and Ebrahim Laher (former Head of EOH International) for a total of R6.4 billion in damages incurred by EOH.
When the new EOH board mandated ENSafrica to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the large public sector contracts, they committed to be transparent on the process, the outcomes, co-operate with authorities, prosecute where there was wrongdoing and implement the correct and appropriate governance frameworks. It was through that process that a number of governance failings, including unsubstantiated payments, tender irregularities and unethical business practices were uncovered. The new board throughout ensured transparent co-operation with the relevant authorities, including the SIU, Hawks and the Enquiry into State Capture.
The actual losses incurred as a direct and indirect consequence of the wrongdoings, which included revenue lost due to reputational damage, fines, settlements and the ENSafrica investigation were substantial. Furthermore, significant man-hours were spent by the various internal teams dedicated to the investigation as well as dealing with the consequences of the wrongdoings. This effort was critical to saving the jobs of as many EOH people as possible as the new board sought to avoid blacklisting by EOH’s partners and customers. The incredible support and response we have received from our stakeholders has resulted in the winning of multi-year contracts and is a strong indicator that we have followed the correct strategy.
Said Stephen van Coller, EOH Group Chief Executive Officer: “It has been no easy feat getting to this point. The new EOH leadership team is immensely proud of everyone who has been involved in this process of saving the jobs of many people and ensuring EOH’s continuing support for our customers in their critical digitisation journeys. As a result of these efforts, EOH remains a leader in the ICT sector in South Africa. EOH employees have shown immense loyalty and grit as we have navigated the past two years and the group can now focus on the of building EOH 2.0 – a unique business with innovative solutions driven by incredibly skilled and passionate people."
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EOH
EOH is one of the largest technology services companies in Africa and has a wide range of solutions in Industry Consulting, IT Services, Software, Industrial Technologies and Business Process Outsourcing. The Group continues to be an undisputed market leader in its core ICT businesses which operates principally under the iOCO brand name. The nature of this business is systemic to both the public and private sector and is an integral technology partner for a number of South Africa’s leading JSE-listed, blue-chip companies as well as key metros and government departments. It’s other business, NEXTEC collaborates with world-leading technology providers to design, implement and manage intelligent value-adding infrastructure and people solutions that make a positive and lasting impact.
The Group’s c.6200 employees deliver services to over 5000 enterprise customers across all major industries throughout South Africa, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. As a proudly South African business, EOH is committed to sustainable transformation, making a positive, meaningful contribution to society, and is a Level 1 Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (‘B-BBEE’) contributor.