POLOKWANE – Taxpayers in Polokwane have to pay just over R1,3 million after the Salga Bargaining Council found the former municipal IT manager, Ruddock Ndou, not guilty on charges against him by the municipality in December 2018, and also found that he was unfairly dismissed in 2017.
He has also not yet received a cent from the municipality. He is currently sitting at home, without money. BONUS’ sister paper, Review reported on the issue in December last year.
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Ndou had to be reinstated in his former position by 3 December – this while someone has already been appointed in his position.
Matshidiso Mothapo, Spokesperson of the municipality at the time said Ndou had been found guilty of five charges of of violating the supply chain management policy, and was subsequently dismissed.
“The unfair dismissal was referred for arbitration and the Commissioner awarded that he was not guilty and that he must be re-instated.”
He said the matter had been referred to the labour court. To date, Ndou has not heard anything about a date set for the appeal. Mothapo said the municipality has also not heard anything about a date having been set.
In the meantime, Ndou had written a letter to the Municipal Manager, Dikgape Makobe, claiming that Makobe had been wrongly informed about certain issues pertaining to the case, and as a result he submitted an affidavit with false information to the court. According to Ndou, the municipal manager had not replied to this letter.
Mothapo said Ndou should correspond with the municipality through his lawyer. Ndou has on more than one occasion expressed his wish to settle the matter, he said.
In a written plea in July last year he stated that he felt that he was unfairly treated and his rights violated before he was dismissed and he did not want to embarrass the municipality unnecessarily. This letter was not answered by the municipality, according to Ndou.
Ndou was appointed in October 2012 and was expected to put in place good ICT Governance policies, ensure ICT policies are approved, resolve ICT audit findings, advise on whether or not there was value for money for a certain appointed ICT service provider and to ensure proper management within the ICT small business unit. He was awarded with the Mayoral Excellence Award for Outstanding Performance in 2013.
He took the case to the Salga Bargaining Council, where the case was postponed time after time. Ndou was cleared of all charges against him on 8 November.
