MBOMBELA – An employee at a local hotel outside town was severely bitten by unattended dogs and unfairly dismissed by management.
Ms Martha Ntjangule (28), employed as a general worker to clean the yard at Mabalel Hotel, alleges that she was bitten by the dogs on her buttocks, legs, arms and back around 15:00 on November 5, while executing her duties on the hotel premises.
She said this was the second time the dogs attacked her. Luckily this time, the wife of the dogs’ owner’s showed her sympathy by taking her to a private doctor in town who, however, refused treating her on speculation that someone else was previously injured by the same dogs.
Ntjangule was then taken to Rob Ferreira Hospital where she was treated for her injuries after which her employer left her at the Nelspruit taxi rank to go home.
Rumours are also making rounds that other employees had since resigned from the hotel for fear of the dogs.
A day after the incident, Ntjangule said she approached the Nelspruit police with the aim of getting law enforcers to talk to the owner. She didn’t open a criminal case.
The police agreed and escorted her to
the hotel where negotiations took place
until the owner agreed to pay her
R1 000, which she said was for her medical expenses. Mpumalanga News that she would not agree until the offer was raised to R2 000.
Ntjangule said that she was surprised on Monday when she reported for work to be told that she was dismissed, allegedly because she had reported the matter to the police.
The manager, known to this newspaper only as Mr Bhila, vehemently refused to give his full name. He confirmed that Ntjangule was indeed bitten by his dogs, which he claimed had acted upon provocation. “She hit them with a broomstick and they bit her,” he said.
He added that his dogs had never bitten anyone before. When questioned about her dismissal, he said she had resigned of her own accord and an affidavit was signed at the police station. “She wanted a two-month advanced salary payment, which was paid out to her,” he said.
