Cape Chamber's chief executive, Ruben Richards. Cape Chamber's chief executive, Ruben Richards.
Cape Town - Cape Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruben Richards has been axed for “not being the right fit” for the organisation.
The surprise decision has reportedly split the Cape Chamber’s board, sending shockwaves through the chamber’s council.
Richards’s dismissal was fleetingly mentioned during Cape Chamber president Janine Myburgh’s address at yesterday’s annual general meeting.
“There have been excellent achievements this year, but I will not stand here and pretend we have not faced our challenges. It is unfortunate that we are again looking for an executive director. The Chamber of Commerce is a strange creature. It is not public sector, nor a corporate and not an agile small business. It sits at a juncture of all of these and it is difficult to find the right fit for its chief executive officer.”
She said Charles Scheltema would be caretaker chief executive.
When pressed for details after the meeting, Myburgh would only say that Richards – who was appointed in May as the chamber’s first chief executive – was still in his probation and that he “wasn’t the right fit”.
When contacted by the Cape Argus, Richards was unequivocal he had not left; he had been fired.
He said he was axed on October 29.
“Part of the deciding factor in my employment, I’m told, was the fact that each candidate had to undergo a psychometric evaluation to establish if I was fit for the organisation.
“The panel made recommendations to the council of the chamber based on this objective fit. It does raise questions about what changed between the time I was considered fit and now, when I am not.”
Richards would not divulge the details of what had led to his removal, but said information would emerge in the next few weeks.
He said, though, that the decision had caused a rift in the board.
Richards was deputy director-general of the Scorpions, with qualifications in engineering, sociology and theology.
He was also chief executive of Globe Engineering.
When he was appointed, Myburgh said the chamber was “extremely fortunate” to have a man of Richards’s talent and experience.
His diverse experience in business, academic, government and civil society was “precisely what is needed right now”.
When asked yesterday if the chamber’s council was fully briefed on the decision to drop Richards, Myburgh was emphatic that they were informed, adding council meetings and decisions were confidential, and appeared concerned that information about Richards’s removal may have been leaked to the media.
Richards did not rule out a possible challenge.
“When one’s integrity is challenged, one has to do what is necessary to defend one’s reputation.” - The Cape Argus