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Imperial CEO Resigns From Eskom Board After Court Ruling

Imperial CEO Resigns From Eskom Board After Court Ruling

(Bloomberg) -- Imperial Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Mark Lamberti resigned from the board of South African state utility Eskom Holdings SOC after a court found him guilty of impairing the dignity of a former employee.

Lamberti, a veteran of the South African business community, was appointed to the Eskom board by President Cyril Ramaphosa as part of a push to reform state companies after years of corruption allegations under Jacob Zuma.

Imperial CEO Resigns From Eskom Board After Court Ruling

In a letter addressed to Pravin Gordhan, minister of public enterprises, Lamberti said “while mistakes were made,” there had been no findings in the judgment of race or gender discrimination against him.

“Despite this, there has been a mainstream and social media frenzy of generally inaccurate commentary," he said. "This is being fueled by a political agenda and legally incorrect interpretations of the judgment, which have culminated inter alia in the most vitriolic defamation of my person.”

A spokesperson in Gordhan’s office said Saturday the minister didn’t try to persuade Lamberti to stay and the resignation had been accepted.

Lamberti last week apologized for comments made to former employee Adila Chowan after a court found him guilty of impairing her dignity when he referred to her as “female employment-equity” in front of fellow managers. Lamberti said he “apologizes unreservedly” for the remarks to Chowan, an Asian woman.

To contact the reporters on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net, Colleen Goko in Johannesburg at cgoko2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net.

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