News

Thabi Leoka served as a Netcare independent non-executive director between January 2022 and March 2023, Charles Vikisi, general counsel and group secretary of Netcare Limited, today confirmed.

Ms Leoka resigned voluntarily, effective 8 March 2023, following a potential conflict presented by her future appointment to the Remgro board, a significant shareholder in a direct competitor to Netcare.  

As is standard practice within Netcare, a background check was conducted. A report by an external specialist integrity assessment firm commissioned by Netcare and received in November 2021 listed Ms Leoka’s highest qualification as an MA and MSc.

The independent report concluded that Ms Leoka was “held in high esteem” and was a “consummate professional”, and her referees considered her “integrity to be above reproach”.  

 "In hindsight, we recognise that we should have proactively enquired why the PhD qualification, as stated on her curriculum vitae, was not reflected in the report. Regrettably, this diligence was not exercised.  Given the recent disclosures around the integrity of Ms Leoka’s academic qualifications, it is apparent that Netcare could have and should have done more to verify the accuracy of her CV, particularly as it pertained to her PhD.

“Valuable lessons have been learned, and our verification processes will be more robust and comprehensive going forward,” Vikisi concluded.

Ends

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