TURNS out it’s not just sausages and legislation that you should never watch being made. The Myburgh report into the demise of African Bank (Abil) shows that you can now add deliberations by boards of JSE-listed companies to that list. Myburgh’s key findings are well-known: CEO Leon Kirkinis displayed “hubris” and resisted calls by auditors Deloitte to hike the bank’s impairments to cover bad debt, even though it was on a high-risk path of chasing loans.But dig a little deeper and the wrangling behind the scenes during Abil’s last months begins to look truly terrifying.While few emerge with their reputations enhanced from this peek into the kitchen, two people did stand up to Kirkinis.One was Samuel Sithole, an independent director of Abil and a former financial director of private equity company Brait.Sithole had chaired Abil’s audit committee since 2011, but had become increasingly uncomfortable. At a board meeting in April 2013, Kirkinis revealed a 26% fall in loans, for which ex...
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