Vincent Ntombela claims that he was unfairly dismissed on December 9, 2019, and still doesn’t have his job back despite an arbitration award ordering the municipality to reinstate him. Ntombela previously worked as a public facilitator at Endumeni Municipality. He says he was dismissed in December 2019 because he failed to alert his employer about the incorrect date on his matric certificate; the municipality saw it as a fake certificate.
“I went through the hearing process because I was accused of having a fake matric certificate. This is because the date on my matric certificate was incorrect. However, it was not fake,” he explained.
According to Ntombela, the KwaZulu-Natal South African Local Government Bargaining Council granted an arbitration award after a hearing on November 30, 2020. The Municipal & Allied Trade Union of South Africa (MATUSA) instructed the municipality to reinstate Ntombela as of November 30, 2020, as per the arbitration award. However, he is still unemployed. On August 12, MATUSA sent a written statement addressed to Endumeni Municipality’s municipal manager, director of corporate support, human resources manager and legal manager, stating its concerns about disregarding the arbitration award. Almost two years later, Ntombela has not been reinstated. “According to the award, I was supposed to be back at work two years ago already; the frustrating part is that I was supposed to be reinstated in December 2019, but here I am without a job two years later,” he laments. His wife, Phumelele Ntombela, also shared her frustrations about her husband’s dismissal. “My husband was our family’s breadwinner and when he got dismissed, we were all shattered. “His reputation was dragged through the mud, as everyone believed that his matric certificate was fake, which is not the case.” She further explained that: “My car was seized, as well as our house, and the saddest thing is that we have fallen behind on our children’s school fees because we can no longer make ends meet. I don’t understand why Endumeni Municipality doesn’t want to reinstate my husband. This has gone on too long and we will not take it lightly anymore.” Endumeni Municipality was contacted for comment, but none had been received at the time of going to print.
