Tshwane officer fired for slapping licence applicant

A SLAP across the face by a Tshwane chief licensing officer, meted out to a member of the public who was trying to renew her driver's licence at the Centurion licence office, has cost the officer his job.

- ZELDA VENTER

The South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) tried in vain before the Johannesburg Labour Court to have the dismissal of licence officer Silulami Mvinjelwa, a shop steward, overturned.

It all started when the officer refused to accept a certified copy of a woman's ID document. An altercation apparently ensued between him and the woman, only identified in the labour court judgment as Ms Basson.

This, according to Basson's evidence, led to the slap, which Mvinjelwa denied. According to him, he was only trying to help her by directing her to his supervisor, but he said she called him a "mother f ... ing K ... ". This was denied by Basson.

Basson testified that she accompanied her sister to renew her driver's licence, and after waiting in the queue for hours, Mvinjelwa refused to assist them. He, according to Basson, told her sister that he would not accept a certified copy of an ID and that he would require the original.