Court upholds reinstatement of Public Protector employee

R1.5M BACK PAY

- SINENHLANHLA MASILELA

THE Labour Court in Johannesburg has dismissed an application by the office of the Public Protector of South to overturn a R1.5 million arbitration award that reinstated a senior provincial manager who publicly criticised former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

Judge Reynaud Daniels ruled that the arbitration award issued by Commissioner James Matshekga under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was reasonable and should stand.

This is after Sphelo Hamilton Samuel, who served as Senior Manager: Provincial Representative in the Free State, was dismissed in December 2020 following a disciplinary process that consolidated nine charges of misconduct into five.

The charges stemmed from multiple incidents, including:

An alleged assault of a complainant by Peter Seabi in 2011;

¢Submitting a complaint to the Speaker of the National Assembly about Mkhwebane without following internal grievance procedures;

Participating in media interviews on SABC and Radio 702 in which he criticised Mkhwebane and discussed the institution’s operations;

Allegedly disclosing confidential information and inciting staff against Mkhwebane.

An alleged assault of a complainant by Peter Seabi in 2011;