Union accuses Public Protector of victimising members

The Public Servants Association of SA (PSA) said the Office of the Public Protector should refrain from victimising its members who speak out against wrongdoing.

The union was commenting after a Labour Court judge overturned the decision of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to dismiss two senior staffers.

The staffers, executive manager Ponatshego Mogaladi and chief investigator Lesedi Sekele, approached the court after Mkhwebane altered their suspensions and dismissed them with immediate effect.

She wrote to them on 6 May to tell them she would not implement the sanctions which the chairperson of a disciplinary process imposed, but fire them instead.

However, in the recent Labour Court ruling, Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje was critical of Mkhwebane’s failure to adhere to the outcome of the formal process and directed her to implement the chairperson’s decision.

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Reacting to the court outcome, the PSA said Mkhwebane’s office suppressed employees’ rights to fair labour practices.

“The Office of the Public Protector (OPP) needs to rid itself of maladministration and refrain from victimising the union’s elected shop stewards and members, owing to them speaking out against wrongs in the office,” the union said in a statement.

“The PSA, as a major societal stakeholder seeking the advancement of the interests of employees and citizens, regards it as critical for the OPP to be exposed as an entity that opposes freedom of association and fair labour practices – in stark contrast [to] affected persons’ constitutional rights,” it said.

The disciplinary hearing of a third union member who has been suspended, has not been concluded yet, according to the union.

“The PSA is adamant that his victimisation is unwarranted. The PSA further repeats its call for the process to remove the Public Protector from office to be expedited as the Public Protector is a major stumbling block preventing the OPP from salvaging its reputation and discharging its constitutional duties.”