Court upholds dismissal of prison official for defiance

THE adage “obey now and grieve later” (which requires employees to obey lawful and reasonable instructions from superiors and to challenge any indiscretions later) still holds true today, a judge said.

- ZELDA VENTER

He found that the firing of a prison official who twice refused to take an inmate to hospital was fair. The Johannesburg Labour Appeal Court remarked that the “obey now and grieve later” concept is even more fundamental in law enforcement institutions, where obedience is imperative.

A prison official, who worked at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, west of Pretoria, was fired by the department for disobeying an instruction to take the prisoner to the hospital. The CCMA later confirmed his dismissal, while the Labour Court deemed it unfair.

It ordered his reinstatement, coupled with a final warning. Unhappy with this verdict, the department turned to the Labour Appeal Court.

The case centred around whether the fired official, only identified as TN Kutu, disobeyed a lawful instruction from his unit manager or whether, on Kutu's version, he only disobeyed a request.