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Sunday World reports that suspended CEO of a Denel subsidiary, Sello Ntsihlele, has applied to the Labour Court for an urgent interdict to stop the state utility from taking disciplinary action against him for making a protected disclosure.
The head of Denel Dynamics has also demanded that the company be prevented from firing him. On Tuesday, Ntsihlele approached the court for an interdict, requesting the matter be referred to a dispute resolution institution. The company is opposing Ntsihlele’s assertion and on Wednesday filed an opposition notice. In his application, Ntsihlele asserts that the arrival of Riaz Saloojee at Denel, who was earmarked to be the chief restructuring officer but without the board’s knowledge, marked the start of his troubles. Saloojee was apparently on mission to sell Denel’s assets, but Ntsihele blocked the moves as he believed the transactions were valued at too low a price. In August 2022, Ntsihlele declared and lodged four grievances. He was suspended on 18 November last year for insubordination, allegedly for failing to perform his CEO duties. The disciplinary hearing chair Tebogo Mancha in a ruling on 2 May supported Ntsihlele’s submission that the dispute should be resolved through an external dispute resolution process rather than through the state arms manufacturer’s own internal process and confirmed that Denel’s disciplinary hearing against Ntsihlele was an “occupational detriment”. Without determining their veracity, Mancha said Ntsihlele’s earlier grievances constituted disclosures. However, he acknowledged he had no authority to compel Denel to refer the matter to an external dispute resolution process. The utility informed Ntsihlele the week before last that the matter would not be referred to an external process and that the hearing would resume on 29 May.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Setumo Stone at Sunday World
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