Ombudsman of the City of Johannesburg, Advocate Sdu Gumede’s return to office was cut short.
On 19 June, Gumede returned to the office to resume his duties following the Labour Court ruling that found his suspension to be unlawful and invalid.
His return was, however, cut short by the news that the City has filed for leave to appeal the Labour Court ruling. Gumede had to reportedly leave his office just after 11.30am on the day, after receiving news from his attorneys that the City is appealing the judgement.
Read: BREAKING NEWS: Labour Court has declared the suspension on Ombudsman unlawful
Gumede was suspended on 9 May after allegations of misconduct and failing to disclose his conflict of interest with one of the service providers to his office.
The city alleged that Gumede failed to disclose his relationship with the director of Yeo Technologies, a company that provided the Office of the Ombudsman with call centre services.
Referring to this allegation, Judge AJ Coetzee said it was clear from submissions made by Gumede that he didn’t receive any benefits from the said company. The judge also noted that Gumede didn’t sit in during the procurement process for the awarding of the tender.
Advocate Tim Bruinders SC, who appeared for Gumede in his urgent court application, said his client was treated unfairly. The application was heard on 15 June in the Labour Court in Braamfontein.
He highlighted that two additional charges that were added to his suspension letter were not in the notice to suspend. “He didn’t get an opportunity to respond to those charges in order to persuade council why he should not be suspended. That is totally unfair,” Bruinders told the court, adding that the City of Joburg Council handled the whole suspension of Gumede in a weird way.
Judge AJ Coetzee agreed with this point and told Advocate Tembeka Ngukaitobi, who was representing the City, that the notice to suspend and the suspension letters didn’t have the same charges.
Ngukaitobi maintained that Gumede was given a fair chance to make representations on why he should not be suspended. He said the City’s concerns were not baseless as they implicated a very senior employee like Gumede. “This is someone in the Office of the Ombudsman,” Ngukaitobi said in his representations.
Read: Suspended ombudsman continues to get paid while legal battle is marred by delays
He added that this matter was about the duty of disclosure, maintaining the highest level of ethical conduct and protection of the Office of the Ombudsman.
The judge then ruled that the City’s suspension of Gumede was unlawful and invalid, setting it aside. He pointed out that the council failed to comply with regulations dealing with circumstances in which senior managers can be suspended.
Coetzee also mentioned that there was no indication that Gumede would interfere with witnesses, as they were not working in the Office of the Ombudsman.
After the handing down of the judgement which meant he could go back to work, Gumede who was visibly relieved said he was committed to getting back to his role as the Ombudsman for the City of Joburg.
Gumede’s lawyer, Jayson Kent said he was happy with the outcome and how the judge handled the matter. “He [the judge] went straight to the crux of the issue. He wasn’t distracted by side issues.”
This is a developing story.
