News24 reports that the Johannesburg Labour Court has ruled that the deputy director-general (DG) of corporate services in the Department of Human Settlements, Nelly Letsholonyane, may return to work after she was fired by Minister Mamoloko Kubayi in April.

Letsolonyane approached the court with an application that it reinstate its order which had ruled she could return to work. She was fired one month after the minister got stuck in an elevator for more than one hour. Kubayi blamed her deputy DG for the incident. In a judgment on 8 August, Labour Court Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje ruled that the minister and the acting DG had "adopted a deplorable and gung-ho posture in dismissing the applicant, irrespective of the nature of the trauma the minister may have endured while stuck in an elevator". Tlhotlhalemaje reiterated an earlier judgment, saying the minister had acted as a "victim, prosecutor, and executioner" in dismissing the 62-year-old Letsolonyane. He noted that Letsolonyane, who had not earned a salary since her dismissal, was in a predicament because of the minister's unlawful conduct. The judge said he believed that she would suffer further irreparable harm if she was not reinstated and he accorded the applicant's case urgency.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Bhengu at News24

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