SowetanLive reports that a beauty therapist who was unfairly dismissed from a spa in Johannesburg has won her case at the bargaining council.  

Last year, there were WhatsApp exchanges between Precious Munyai and the owner of Aronia Day Spa, Tasneem Patel, about Munyai’s Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief scheme (Ters) payment.  Screengrabs of the tense conversation were posted on social media.  In them, Munyai asks her boss Patel about the Ters benefits as she had not received the funds.  A response from Patel reads:  "You [are] being a damn pain. Ask the government.”  Another message reads:  “Where the hell must I get a form from.  Stop annoying me. I’m not the government, I’m not UIF … if you message again I’m going to block you.”  Patel apologised for the messages following a social media backlash.  Munyai was dismissed after being told her employment contract was for a 12-month period.  Munyai's lawyer Mark Thompson reported that the bargaining council agreed that Munyai had been unfairly dismissed and she was granted four months' salary as compensation, which she was supposed to have received on 8 January.  However, lawyer Sunil Narian said the decision which was granted in December would be appealed by the Aronia Day Spa.  "In terms of the LRA (Labour Relations Act), the application must be brought within six weeks of the award being served. That period comes to an end on Friday, 29 January, we will serve and file before then," he indicated.  Munyai, whose legal battle was paid for by TV and radio personality Anele Mdoda, has since started her own spa called Precious Beauty Bar.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karabo Ledwaba at SowetanLive

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