News24 reports that Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) arbitrator Imthiaz Sirkhot ruled on Tuesday that former top policeman Major-General Jeremy Vearey's dismissal had been "substantively fair" and was the only sanction that could have been imposed, given the circumstances.
"The trust relationship between the applicant (Vearey) and the respondent (SA Police Service) has broken down irretrievably. It would be intolerable for the applicant to remain in the service of the respondent. The only sanction that can be imposed is one of dismissal," Sirkhof indicated. Vearey was fired after an "expeditious" disciplinary process held between April and May found that he had brought the police into disrepute via his posts on Facebook. The police, at the time, said some of his posts were directed at national police commissioner Khehla Sitole and "contained words that were considered derogatory, offensive, insulting, and disrespectful … these actions were considered a misconduct and therefore warranted a departmental action". Sirkhot found that Vearey's intention was to degrade the leadership of the police service and to disrespect Sitole's authority. At the hearing, Vearey was represented by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru). Popcru spokesperson Charlton Johnson said they would be referring the matter to the Labour Court as there were ‘glaring errors’ in the decision.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24
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