According to a statement by the council, last week the labour court ruled in favour of Pacofs and upheld Macholo’s dismissal. According to OFM News and City Press, Macholo’s woes began in 2015 when he was slammed with 18 charges of gross dishonesty, misconduct, failure to act in the best interest of Pacofs, negligence and insubordination by the then council. Macholo was eventually suspended and thereafter dismissed in the matter. He subsequently approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in 2016 to challenge the dismissal. Following over four years of litigation the relieved Pacofs council says the matter has been finalised and no order pertaining to costs was made.

Pacofs and its revolving door of CEOs

This win in the labour court comes as the incumbent council was forced to demote Meshack Xaba from his acting Pacofs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) role in April 2021, after disgruntled artists staged a near two-month-long sit-in at the Pacofs Building in Bloemfontein, calling on Xaba to be ousted from the centre. Sharon Snell was eventually appointed as the acting Pacofs CEO and is being tasked with stabilising an institution that has a long record of instability and alleged financial misconduct.

In this latest CEO drama, artists in the Free State, led by the provincial coordinator of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (Ccifsa), Mbuyiselo Nqodi, now wait for Snell to implement the findings of a 2018 investigative report by forensic auditing firm, Morar Incorporated, that finds Xaba – who is also Pacofs’ artistic director -  guilty of wrongdoing. He is embroiled in the favourable treatment of a former Pacofs council member in the organisation of a gospel festival, which was pitched to the centre by a local artist.

The Pacofs Council, led by chairperson Thato Moeeng, has in the statement on Macholo’s case stated that they are “committed to investigating all allegations of improper conduct. Furthermore, where there is evidence of wrongdoing, Pacofs will take action against such employees in a fair manner and in line with the entity’s policies and the labour legislation of the country”.

OFM News