News24 reports that a top human resources (HR) officer in the SA Police Service (SAPS) faces dismissal following a hearing which reportedly found her guilty of racism and making disparaging remarks at work.
Trade union Solidarity said in a statement on Thursday that a SAPS disciplinary hearing found the Head of Basic Police Development, Major-General Sandra Malebe-Thema, guilty of racism. According to Anton van der Bijl, head of legal service at Solidarity, Malebe-Thema made herself guilty of racist and humiliating remarks towards various training personnel during an event at the SAPS Training Academy in Oudtshoorn in 2016. The general apparently stated that there were too many white faces occupying positions in training and that the so-called discrimination against black students would be stopped. During the same event she also made inappropriate comments about a selected group of personnel’s clothing and weight. Solidarity said it had laid a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission and had then approached the Labour Court to force the police to act on behalf of the aggrieved persons. The police declined to comment on internal police matters, but according to an eNCA report on Thursday, Malebe-Thema has already been dismissed.
- Read the original report by Jenni Evans in full at News24
- Read too, SAPS' head of basic police development dismissed, at eNCA
- Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page