IOL News reports that a former employee of Standard Bank has lost an appeal at the Johannesburg Labour Court following his dismissal for dishonesty after submitting a false balance sheet.

Banele Mbuyane was employed as a treasury custodian and worked under the supervision of N Nkosi, with both responsible for handling cash received from the security company SBV. The protocol required that any discrepancies in cash amounts received be rectified immediately, with accurate balance sheets generated to reflect the true cash status.

The chain of events began in October 2019, when a delivery of coin from SBV was weighed by Mbuyane, revealing a shortfall in one of the bags. After discussing the matter with Nkosi, they agreed on the shortfall, with Nkosi instructing Mbuyane to return the erroneous bag during the next delivery from SBV. However, in a breach of protocol, Nkosi advised him that the system would still record the original full amount, rather than the reduced quantity actually received. The truth of their misrepresentation surfaced during a surprise cash inspection by the bank’s risk mitigation team. The inspection revealed that three bags were short, prompting an internal disciplinary enquiry that ultimately confirmed Mbuyane's dismissal alongside Nkosi. Mbuyane turned to the CCMA, where it was ruled that his dismissal was both substantively and procedurally fair. He then appealed to the Labour Court.

Judge Robert Lagrange presided over the matter and looked at Mbuyane's arguments and the arbitrator's reasoning for dismissing his application. The arbitrator had found that Mbuyane actively participated in making the misrepresentation, that he had been dishonest, and his actions had been a serious misconduct. Judge Lagrange affirmed that the findings regarding Mbuyane’s misconduct were reasonable based on the evidence provided. "That said, it does not mean that another reasonable arbitrator could not have concluded, on the same evidence, that the sanction of dismissal was too harsh," said the judge.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sinenhlanhla Masilela at IOL News

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