TimesLIVE reports that a railway finance manager who was fired after approving R5.5m in irregular expenditure on hire cars has failed in a court bid to get his job back.  

Mbulelo Ngxonono, 56, was the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s (Prasa's) senior finance manager in the Western Cape when the auditor-general raised a red flag.  He faced 10 disciplinary charges of gross misconduct, gross dereliction of duty and gross insubordination, and was fired in 2016 after being found guilty on four of the charges.  After the CCMA dismissed Ngxonono’s appeal against his firing, he went to the Labour Court in Cape Town, which dismissed his case on 31 January.  Judge Hilary Rabkin Naicker said:  “Given the gravity of the charges, as well as the senior position occupied by [Ngxonono], the decision by the commissioner not to interfere with the sanction imposed is reasonable and I find no basis to set this aside.”  According to the judgment, Prasa’s contract with KE Daniels for short-term car rental expired, but Ngxonono extended it without the approval of the regional manager or group CEO.  Ngxonono argued that the vehicles which were hired were used to improve fare collection, meaning the irregular expenditure was self-funded.  But, the finance manager had ignored an instruction from the Prasa CEO to ensure there was budget provision before the car-hire contract was extended.

• Read the original of the report in the above regard at TimesLIVE

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