The board of the Institute of Retirement Funds (IRF) has passed a vote of no confidence in its president and chairperson for the past three years, Shantha Padayachee. The vote comes on the eve of the IRF’s annual convention.
The vote of no confidence was passed because Padayachee did not notify the board that she had changed her mind about standing for re-election. The vote took place on August 15, but the board only informed Padayachee of it 10 days later.
The no-confidence vote was confirmed by Ramotshudi Ramputa, the IRF’s deputy president.
“The matter is still being dealt with internally, and we will issue a statement once the internal processes have been finalised.
“[Padayachee] has been offered an opportunity to respond to the board, and we do not want to pre-empt the outcome of that. The board is not at liberty to issue any statement at this stage,” Ramputa says.
Despite the vote of no confidence, Padayachee plans to deliver her annual president’s report at the IRF’s convention in Durban on Monday.
Interviewed this week at an investment conference in Cape Town, where Padayachee was chairing a panel discussion in her capacity as IRF chairperson, Padayachee confirmed that she had received written notice of the vote of no confidence, but rejected it as “ultra vires”.
“The IRF constitution provides for an election process by members and who should be notified. I followed all these procedures.
“The board is not questioning the legality of my nomination as a board member. It has taken the action because I did not inform the board of my decision to stand for re-election.
“I opted to stand for election because I am interested in providing substantive input to this industry as I have done as president for the past three years. I initially thought I would not opt for re-election because of the considerable work involved in this position. It is non-remunerative and requires a large amount of my time and expertise on an ongoing basis.
“The IRF is subject to its own constitution and the laws of South Africa but has chosen to ignore all procedural and substantive rules of due process. I would presume we still live in a constitutional democracy,” Padayachee says.