Poultry execs flag PIC brass links PIC company secretary Bongani Mathebula has been drawn into a battle for control over poultry products company Daybreak Farms 06 June 2021 - 00:09 By SABELO SKITI
Paying R4.8m to a company for two months’ work and quadrupling the fees paid to a connected law firm which also received R500,000 to design a PDF document are among the allegations levelled against the new board of Daybreak Farms.
The company is wholly owned by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which is tasked with investing the pensions of government employees.
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Another top executive has been placed on suspension at chicken producer Daybreak Farms.
Daybreak Farms is one of South Africa s largest integrated chicken producers, slaughtering over a million birds a week.
Earlier in the month, Daybreak fired its CEO Boas Seruwe, saying its relationship with him had irretrievably broken down .
Chicken producer Daybreak Farms has placed its acting CEO on precautionary suspension just over a week after it fired his predecessor.
In a statement on Thursday, Daybreak Farms, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), announced that it suspended its acting chief executive officer Cobus van Niekerk.
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Citing breakdown of relationship between CEO and board. 00:01
Daybreak Farms is one of the countryâs leading poultry producers. Image: Shutterstock
Boas Seruwe, chief executive officer of poultry producer Daybreak Farms, has been sent packing by the companyâs board following months of rising tensions between the two parties.
In the termination letter sent to Seruwe dated May 11, 2021, the board says its relationship with Seruwe has âirretrievably broken down, and there exists no prospects whatsoever that the employer/employee relationship can be salvaged or improved in any wayâ.
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Scheme involved senior management, including suspended CEO and acting CFO. 11:50
Daybreak is one of SAâs leading poultry producers, processing 1.4m birds a week. Its owners include the UIF and the GEPF. Image: Shutterstock
A forensic investigation into allegations of misconduct against suspended Daybreak Farms CEO Boas Seruwe has uncovered how he and other senior managers at the company were involved in a network of companies to siphon off millions of rands out of Daybreakâs accounts.
The details of the scheme are contained in a 430-page forensic investigation report titled Fox in a Chicken Coop. The investigation was conducted by business advisory firm Schaefer Schmidt following Seruweâs suspension in February.