Home Affairs official fired over Bushiri’s SA residency appealing dismissal yet again

A senior Department of Home Affairs official who granted permanent residency for self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his family in South Africa is appealing his dismissal.

Former chief director Ronney Marhule was fired in May this year, following a year-long investigation.

This was after he was found guilty of gross dishonesty, gross negligence and non-compliance with the Immigration Act when the official recommended issuing the permits to Bushiri’s family, although they did not qualify after applying in 2016.

Marhule had also been charged regarding permanent residence permits issued to two other people, Mohamed Afzal Motiwala and Fatima Ebrahim.

Disciplinary process

Briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi confirmed that the ex-employee has since approached the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council (GPSSBC), looking to overturn his dismissal.

“The matter is, therefore, under arbitration,” he told the committee.

Motsoaledi said he was surprised to find out the former official was still challenging the sanction after a number of attempts.

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“When we charged this official, he tried to stop the disciplinary process. He went to the Labour Court to try and stop the process [but] he lost…. he then appealed [and] lost.

“He then petitioned or appealed to the Labour Appeal Court… he lost, and the disciplinary process took off [where] he was found guilty of gross negligence and gross dishonesty,” he said.

“The surprising part which I didn’t know before – is that after being dismissed, having tried the Labour Court, a public servant can still go to start a new process at the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council. I’m confessing that this was news to me [because] I thought once you go to the courts and you lose that’s where matters end,” Motsoaledi added.

More officials

Since five officials were initially suspended for their alleged role in Bushiri’s residency application, the minister, however, said disciplinary processes against the other four were still ongoing.

“There are four other officials who were placed on precautionary suspension on the 15th to 18th March 2022, for aiding and abetting in connection with this matter.

“In other words, while the chief director has been dismissed because he was charged under a different dispensation, these are junior officials.

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“Their disciplinary process is currently under way, with the most recent sitting [being] on the 3rd of August. We waiting for other sittings,” Motsoaledi explained.

The Bushiris were served three notices by Marhule in February and March last year, with the third notice later being declared “irrational, unlawful and invalid”. 

According to a legal document, Bushiri’s application for permanent residence status was captured and granted by the officials, “in terms of an incorrect section of the Act which occurred as a result of certain commissions or commissions on the applicant and his wife’s part.”