IT is a case of out of the frying pan into the fire for Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane as he has been taken to the Industrial Court by his employer, EswatiniMed.
The Industrial Court is a specialised court that deals with labour and employment-related disputes. EswatiniMed believes that as an employer it has a right to place its employees on precautionary suspensions where circumstances dictate.
In this case, Simelane has been placed on a precautionary suspension pending finalisation of an investigation into allegations of misconduct. Simelane is fresh from being fined a hefty amount of E30 000 for contempt of court by High Court Judge Titus Mlangeni on Monday.
Yesterday, he was slapped with another order where he was expected to pay for wasted costs for non-compliance with court processes.
The order was issued by Industrial Court Judge Faith Dlamini in the case where EswatiniMed wants Simelane to comply with the conditions of his suspension letter.
Interim Board Chairperson Bheki Maziya in an affidavit submitted that Simelane violated the terms of his suspension by entering the workplace (being the applicant’s head office situated at Nedbank Building, Mbabane).
One of the conditions of Simelane’s suspension was that access cards, user rights, and access to all systems shall be terminated with immediate effect he so as to ensure that he no longer has access to the Fund’s resources and systems.
“The respondent entered the workplace on various occasions. The respondent has failed to adhere to the terms of the suspension, in that he has not surrendered the laptop, security access key and the other company assets.
He still retains these items and is using them for purposes of destabilising EswatiniMed,” Maziya stated.
He submitted that Simelane has been giving instructions to EswatiniMed employees, countermanding instructions given by the acting Principal Officer Nokthula Dlamini. Maziya said this has had a deleterious effect on the operations of EswatiniMed.
Maziya in the urgent application said he was advised that if the application were to be launched in the ordinary course, it was likely only to be heard in about two months.
He submitted that in the meantime, Simelane would continue to defy the terms of the suspension as issued by the board, destabilise the organisation by countermanding the instructions of the acting principal officer, and cause confusion amongst the EswatiniMed members of staff, which was precisely what EswatiniMed sought to prevent by way of the interim interdict that it sought in the application.
Nokuthula Dlamini, the acting Principal Officer, in her affidavit supported Maziya stating that Simelane was interfering with the operations of EswatiniMed by countermanding instructions given by her to members of staff; and performing responsibilities of principal officer notwithstanding his suspension.
