Govt ordered to pay Alpheous salary arrears

The Industrial Court has ordered government to pay salary arrears to former Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo after he was moved from being a government spokesperson into what has been described as a ‘holding position.’

Judge Abande Dlamini delivered an ex tempore judgment yesterday in an urgent application filed by Nxumalo, who approached the court seeking relief after government failed to pay his salary following the renewal of his employment contract.

The matter was initially served before the court on December 2.

Court records indicated that the applicant’s urgent application bore the registrar’s date stamp of November 26.

The court noted that this suggested the respondents were likely served with the application on the same date or earlier.

The judge noted that yesterday government legal representative Ndabenhle Dlamini still wanted to rehash the points of law he had raised last year when the matter was before court.

According to the judge, Dlamini seemed to have conveniently forgotten that these points of law had now become academic on the basis that the parties agreed that Nxumalo would be moved from the position of government public relations officer to what the government calls a holding position.

The judge stated that in that regard it is the finding of the court that it could not be disputed that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) signed a legally binding contract on September 15, and in terms of the contract of employment, the applicant ought to have been paid from October.

The judge, when delivering judgment, noted that despite being served, the respondents did not file comprehensive answering papers.

Instead, they filed only a notice to raise points of law on December 2, the same day the matter first appeared before court.

On that date, the matter was stood down at the request of both parties to December 3 for arguments.

However, when the matter resumed on December 3, the parties requested a postponement to December 12, citing ongoing settlement negotiations.

When the case was called again on December 12, the parties sought a further postponement to December 16.

No signed settlement agreement was presented to court.

Instead, the parties advised that they had verbally agreed that the applicant would be moved from his position as government public relations officer to what government described as a ‘holding position.’

The court took judicial notice of the reasons behind this arrangement, namely that Nxumalo was facing rape-related criminal charges.

However, while the parties had reached a verbal agreement on the holding position, they failed to agree on the issue of salary arrears.

The respondents refused to remunerate the applicant for the period beginning October, arguing that he had not rendered any services since the signing of his contract on September 15.

In response, Nxumalo maintained that he was ready and willing to resume duty but was prevented from doing so by the respondents.

In his founding affidavit, he stated that after signing the written contract with the second respondent, who is tasked with employing and deploying government employees, he availed himself to resume work on October 1.

He asserted that he later learned he had been placed under suspension and prevented from taking up the post to which he had been appointed.

Nxumalo further stated that he was never afforded a hearing prior to the decision to place him on suspension.

He indicated that had he been given an opportunity to be heard, he would have presented his side of the story on several issues, including whether any suspension should have been with or without pay.

He argued that it was unlawful for the respondents to withhold his salary after he had made himself available for duty.

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He further stated that he had suffered serious prejudice as a result of the decision to withhold his remuneration since the renewal of his contract.

The court noted that despite the serious allegations made against the first respondent, identified as the principal secretary in the prime minister’s office, no answering affidavit was filed in opposition to the application.

The court remarked that it did not believe the failure to file opposing papers was the result of legal advice.

Judge Dlamini further stated that if such advice had indeed been given by senior counsel, Attorney Ndabenhle Dlamini, then it constituted bad and misleading legal advice.

The judge stated that when the matter was argued yesterday, counsel for the respondents, Attorney Ndabenhle Dlamini, sought to revisit the points of law raised earlier in December.

However, the court found that those points had since become academic in light of the parties’ agreement that the applicant would be moved from his former position to a holding position.

Judge Dlamini held that it was undisputed that the CSC had signed a legally binding contract with Nxumalo on September 15.

He stated that in terms of that contract, the applicant was entitled to be paid from October 2025 onwards.

The court found that despite the existence of a valid and binding employment contract, the respondents had refused, failed, or neglected to honour their contractual obligation by paying the applicant his monthly remuneration.

The court further held that the respondents’ insistence on pursuing preliminary legal points, after agreeing to place the applicant in a holding position, amounted to a flimsy attempt to cling to non-existent arguments.

As a result, the court directed the principal secretary in the prime minister’s office, the secretary in the CSC, and the Accountant General to pay Nxumalo his salary for the months of October, November and December, as well as January, forthwith.

In addition, the respondents were ordered to take all necessary steps to facilitate immediate payment of the applicant’s salary, with the court declaring that the continued withholding of his remuneration was wrongful and in breach of the employment contract signed by the parties.

On the question of costs, the court ordered the first respondent to pay the costs of the application on the ordinary scale.

Nxumalo to take home about E200 000

EMBATTLED Alpheous Nxumalo could receive more than E217 000 in outstanding salary following the Industrial Court order directing that his remuneration be paid.

Judge Abande Dlamini ruled that Nxumalo must be paid his salary for October, November and December, as well as January, after finding that the failure to remunerate him was unlawful.

The judgment effectively restores Nxumalo’s pay status for the affected period and obliges the responsible government authorities to release the withheld funds without further delay.

Based on his basic annual salary of E653 651, Nxumalo earns approximately E54 470 per month.

The four-month period covered by the court order translates to a total payout of about E217 884 in gross basic salary.

This figure represents the take-home amount due under the judgment, excluding any additional benefits, allowances or statutory deductions that may ordinarily apply to his remuneration package.

Under allowances according to the signed contract, Nxumalo shall be eligible for such allowances and other benefits as are applicable to him under the laws, regulations and General Orders for the time being in force.

It was stated that the officer shall be eligible for a communication gadget with a monthly maximum limit of E3 000 or at any applicable rate approved by the ministry of public service.

He was also eligible for a commuted car allowance of E12 085 or at an applicable rate as revised by government, only on approval by the ministry of public service.