The former BOSA insider taking Mmusi Maimane to the CCMA
JOHANNESBURG — Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane is facing a CCMA dispute with former senior staff member Tania Coenraad, whose lawyers proposed a R1.44 million separation package after challenging the party’s decision not to renew her fixed-term contract.
The dispute centres on whether Coenraad, a former BOSA Chief of Staff who later worked in its parliamentary operations, had a reasonable expectation that her employment would continue beyond 30 June 2026. BOSA denies that any such expectation existed and maintains that her contract simply expired on its agreed date.
Coenraad began working for BOSA in February 2024 under a series of fixed-term arrangements and was appointed Chief of Staff for a two-year period from July 2024. Her reported gross salary was R60,000 a month.
According to correspondence from her lawyers, Coenraad attended a performance review on 5 June where she received positive feedback on aspects of her work, including stakeholder engagement, parliamentary coordination, donor relations and organisational systems. Later that day, she was allegedly informed that her contract would not be renewed and was asked to begin handing over responsibilities.
Her attorneys, Patton Williams Inc, subsequently argued that BOSA’s conduct had created a reasonable expectation of continued employment. They pointed to successive fixed-term arrangements and Coenraad’s involvement in preparations for the 2026 local government elections, including campaign strategy, fundraising and other work expected to continue beyond the expiry of her contract.
On 11 June, her lawyers proposed resolving the dispute through a mutual separation agreement rather than prolonged litigation. The proposed package amounted to 24 months of her R60,000 monthly remuneration, producing the R1.44 million figure now at the centre of the dispute.
The proposal should not be confused with a CCMA award. It was a settlement offer made by Coenraad’s lawyers and BOSA did not accept it.
BOSA’s lawyers rejected the unfair-dismissal allegations and argued that Coenraad’s contract expressly stated that it would terminate on 30 June. According to the party, she had agreed that expiry of the fixed-term contract would neither constitute a dismissal nor create an expectation of renewal or permanent employment.
BOSA HR consultant Dr Phindi Msomi also disputed the description of Coenraad as Maimane’s current Chief of Staff, saying she had not occupied that position for at least a year before her contract ended and had instead been working within BOSA’s parliamentary operations. She described allegations against Maimane as false and bordering on defamation and said the party would provide a fuller response.
Coenraad has separately made allegations about her treatment inside BOSA, describing some interactions with Maimane as demeaning, intimidating and bullying. She also said an earlier public announcement concerning her position left her humiliated and confused about her status. Those allegations are disputed by BOSA and have not been established as findings by the CCMA.
The labour dispute now leaves the CCMA to consider the competing positions around the expiry of Coenraad’s employment and whether BOSA’s conduct created a reasonable expectation that her fixed-term contract would be renewed.
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