Minister Kubayi’s fired deputy director back at work after another scathing court ruling

Nelly Letsholonyane, the Department of Human Settlements deputy director, who was fired by Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi after the minister got stuck in the lift for an hour, is back at work.

This, after the minister again came in for more judicial criticism for overstepping her powers and acting as “complainant, initiator and chairperson”, by unilaterally firing Letsholonyane in April this year, following the lift incident.

In May, Johannesburg Labour Court Acting Judge Molatelo Makhura said the minister’s conduct was unlawful and ordered that Nelly Lethsholonyane be immediately reinstated.

The minister has now petitioned the Labour Appeal Court for permission to appeal.

In the meantime, Letsholonayne – who has been sitting at home with no pay since April – applied to the Labour Court to enforce the reinstatement ruling, even though an appeal was pending.

In a judgment handed down on 8 August, Johannesburg Labour Court Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje, ruled in her favour.

He said Lethshonyane had proved that exceptional circumstances existed to justify the reversing of the ordinary rule of suspension of the order, pending appeal.

“The applicant alleges that the exceptional circumstances arise from the judgment of (acting judge) Makhura to the extent that her dismissal was found to be in breach of her employment contract and the SMS [Senior Management Service] Handbook and was thus unlawful,” Judge Tlhotlhalemaje said.

“She is 62 years old, with 18 years service and has less than three years before she retires. She has been deprived of her salary … She contends that pending a series of anticipated appeals, she will, in the meantime, remain without an income until her retirement age. The consequences thereof are that any victory would be Pyrrhic, as she would no longer be in a position to be reinstated to her position.”

The judge said given that it was common cause that her services had been terminated in the manner described if Judge Makhura’s ruling was not enforced, “it would clearly amount to countenancing the unlawful conduct of the minister to continue unabated”.

“Without being bogged down with the merits or otherwise of the reasons for the dismissal, the respondent (the minister) clearly adopted a deplorable and gung-ho posture in dismissing the applicant, irrespective of the nature of the trauma the minister may have endured whilst stuck in the elevator,” he said.