No explanation after MD quits

Johannesburg Roads Agency MD Sean Phillips resigned without providing reasons for his resignation, board chairman Sipho Tshabalala told Business Day on Sunday.

Phillips resigned on Thursday last week with immediate effect. He had a five-year contract, which began in May 2016.

Phillips did indicate that he would work a three-month notice period, Tshabalala said, but the board had decided to let him leave immediately, as it would have made the road construction company unstable.

He said he did not know if Phillips had another opportunity lined up.

In the Johannesburg Roads Agency statement, Phillips was praised as “an exceptional civil engineering professional with strong performance-monitoring and evaluation experience at both national and municipal levels, coupled with operational management expertise within local roads authorities”.

Tshabalala said the company’s board would seek to meet both Phillips and his predecessor, Skhumbuzo Macozoma, who was appointed CEO of the South African National Roads Agency, to find out why they had resigned before their contracts expired.

This would help with future recruitment, Tshabalala said.

Chief financial officer Goodwill Mbatha has been appointed as the acting MD with immediate effect.