GroundUp reports the Minister of Human Settlements has been ordered by the Johannesburg Labour Court to immediately reinstate deputy director of corporate services Nelly Letsholonyane, who was found to have been unlawfully dismissed.
She was dismissed after Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi got stuck in a lift for about an hour and then blamed Letsholonyane, and summarily terminated her contract in April this year. Acting Judge Molatelo Makhura ruled that Kubayi’s conduct had been “unlawful”. “Such conduct should not be condoned by courts of law. This court cannot and should not turn a blind eye to injustice and lawlessness. The impact that such decisions have on employees is unimaginable,” he pointed out. Minister Kubayi had posted on a WhatsApp group just before 8pm on 14 March this year that she was stuck in the lift and that the “responsible person had already left work”. Letsholonyane, alerted by the message, immediately took steps to get a technician from the lift company to attend to the matter. But, she was called into the Minister’s office at 7:30am the following morning, and given a letter of intention to dismiss her for “gross negligence” for threatening the lives of employees. She was dismissed with immediate effect on 20 April 2023. Letsholonyane then approached the Johannesburg Labour Court, alleging a breach of contract. She argued that the Minister had acted as the victim, witness, initiator and referee “and this was not acceptable”. Makhura ruled that her dismissal was unlawful because the Minister had not complied with the provisions of the Senior Management Service Handbook. He ordered that Letsholonyane be reinstated immediately. He also ruled that the Minister’s conduct “must be frowned upon” and that she pay the costs of the application.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
- Read too, Minister Kubayi illegally fired employee after getting stuck in a lift, court finds, at The Citizen
- And also, Human settlements minister denies employee's dismissal was over 'lift incident', at News24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page