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Pretoria News reports that two employees of Pioneer Foods were cleared for the third time after they were initially fired following newspaper articles which implicated them in the looting of cold drink bottles after a Coca-Cola truck had overturned on a road.
The two employees were employed as a driver and a delivery assistant at Pioneer Foods when they came across a Coca-Cola truck that had lost its load on a motorway. Passers-by and other people helped themselves to the bottles on the ground and in the truck. The two employees were charged with having stopped their vehicle (branded SASKO) at the scene and taking part in the looting, thereby putting their employer’s name into disrepute. The two workers claimed that they were driving when they saw the overturned truck and the bottles scattered across the road. According to them, they stopped to help the Coca-Cola driver to pick up the bottles. They claimed that the driver gave them a few bottles containing the beverage to thank them for their help. Their version was not believed as their employer relied on newspaper reports and they were fired following a disciplinary hearing. The matter went to the CCMA, which ruled that their dismissal was substantively unfair and overturned that finding. Pioneer Foods then unsuccessfully turned to the Labour Court to have the CCMA’s ruling overturned. As it also lost that battle, it turned to the Labour Appeal Court, which also turned down the appeal. During all three hearings, Pioneer Foods relied on newspaper and Facebook hearsay evidence without having laid the basis for admission of such evidence. The court further drew an adverse inference because the Coca-Cola driver was not called to testify and no explanation therefore was given by Pioneer Foods. It was found that there was nothing wrong in taking the word of the two workers as to what had happened that day, in the circumstances where their versions were uncontroverted and there was no direct evidence of the theft.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zelda Venter at Pretoria News
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