Africa-Press – South-Africa. Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has denied unfairly dismissing the deputy director of corporate services, Nelly Letsholonyane, over an incident earlier this year when Kubayi got stuck in a lift.
In a statement, Kubayi said while she did not wish to divulge much in the media, Letsholonyane underwent several disciplinary processes before she was sacked.
GroundUp reported Kubayi summarily terminated Letsholonyane’s contract after she got stuck in an elevator for an hour on 14 March.
Kubayi blamed Letsholonyane for the incident and her absence from the office that evening.
She alerted her colleagues about the incident through a WhatsApp message.
On 15 March, Letsholonyane received a letter of intent to dismiss her for “gross negligence” and for threatening employee safety despite responding immediately to the incident.
The letter went on to state that the ‘misconduct emanated from an incident that occurred on 14 March 2023’ where she and others were ‘trapped in a lift for a period of more than one hour’.
Kubayi gave Letsholonyane until 16 March to explain why she should not be dismissed.
Letsholonyane submitted her written explanation, denying the alleged misconduct and indicating the appropriate forum to deal with the allegations would be in a disciplinary hearing.
On 3 April, she was called into a meeting, where Kubayi informed her she had three options available: be dismissed, face a disciplinary hearing with suspension, or take early retirement.
According to a Labour Court judgment, Letsholonyane, under protest, accepted the retirement option on 14 April.
She was dismissed immediately on 20 April after several meetings.
On Monday, Kubayi said Letsholonyane faced several allegations and failed to motivate why she should not be dismissed.
In a written explanation it said:
However, the Johannesburg Labour Court ordered last month that Kubayi should reinstate Letsholonyane because the decision to dismiss her on 20 April was unlawful.
It also ruled Kubayi could not dismiss her without a disciplinary hearing, in terms of the management service handbook.
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