DG dismissal declared unfair

Former Director General (DG) Rachel Molepo-Modipa feels vindicated after a verdict by an arbitrator of the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) declaring her earlier dismissal substantively unfair.
Having worked with Premier Stan Mathabatha for only four months, she was suspended in October 2013 pending investigation of serious allegations levelled against her. She was dismissed in July 2015.
In an interview Molepo-Modipa said she maintained she was innocent, and in what she has been accused of, she was dismissed for fighting corruption. “It became necessary to me to challenge what I saw as unfair dismissal through the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) which is a statutory body designed in part to adjudicate such matters. The issue to be decided by the arbitrator was to determine whether my dismissal was substantively unfair or not. On Thursday, 7 April the arbitrator issued an arbitration award in which he found that my dismissal is substantively unfair,” she said.
The arbitration order read “To impose the ultimate penalty of dismissal in the employment relations in the said circumstances was too outrageous”. She said she build up an impeccable career during 34 years in the public service, and under three previous premiers. She served 13 years in senior management positions and was awarded a long service award for 20 years and again 30 years service in 2001 and in 2013 respectively “in recognition and as a token of continuous, consistently satisfactory and devoted service in the Public Service of the Republic of South Africa” as stated on the two certificates.
Molepo-Modipa was elected in 2010 and in 2012 as chairperson in the Provincial Directors-General Forum and in October 2013 she was nominated by the Department of Public Service and Administration to compete in the National Batho-Pele Awards as one of the best Directors General in the country. The DPSA came to the Office of the Premier in the morning of 28 October 2013 to compile a video profile of her for being nominated as one of the best Directors General in preparation for the National Batho Pele awards ceremony which was to take place in November that year, but she was suspended the same afternoon.
“I have been saying that I am innocent and I am happy that the arbitrator found that my dismissal was unfair. I want to thank all those who supported me throughout this difficult period. I went through almost three years of hell aggravated by the passing on of my mother in May 2015. She passed on with a heavy heart seeing her daughter staying at home for having done absolutely nothing, but she died saying: “Nna ngwanaka ga a corrupt” and indeed that was proven by the results of the investigation of the so-called serious allegations.”
She said all should strive to ensure that the public service is insulated from unnecessary wastage of funds caused by frivolous allegations and baseless suspensions of officials who continue to receive salaries staying at home while in essence they have done nothing wrong. She is now the proud owner of a lodge in the Lowveld and says she has more time to enjoy her grandchildren.
Provincial Government Spokesperson Phuti Seloba said the provincial government will not be drawn into mud-slinging and said she should concentrate on future endeavours and put the past behind her. “The provincial government has a serious job bettering people’s lives.”

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
>>nelie.observer@gmail.com

Photo: Former Director General of Limpopo Rachel Molepo-Madipa says she feels vindicated as an arbitration order found her dismissal from the post to have been unfair.