ALI MPHAKI
S HE BLEW the whistle on a colleague who allegedly pocketed R80 000 in social grants meant for the poor.
Now she is without a job and the person she tried to bring to book is on the run, wanted by the police.
Phumzile Mayaba, 32, who informed her seniors about the fraudulent activities, claims instead of being protected she was dismissed.
A magistrate told The Star on Friday Mayaba had got a raw deal.
“Her case is a typical gross unfair labour practice,” said the magistrate, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Andiswa Mbele failed to appear at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in January. The former temporary clerk at the Joburg Family Court has been charged with fraudulently transferring place of safety payments from the children’s court into her own personal account.
Mayaba, a single mother-of-two from Emndeni, said she sensed she was no longer wanted by her superiors – who included Joburg area court manager Monwabisi Sobahle – after she had alerted the authorities to the alleged theft.
Sobahle is out on R4 000 bail on charges of corruption after he was arrested in Soweto two weeks ago.
“They made my life difficult and as a result I suffered a terrible depression, which saw me being hospitalised for over a month,” said Mayaba.
Two weeks after she returned to work, she was served with a letter of immediate dismissal for “abscondment”.
It is two-and-a-half years since she was dismissed from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
She claimed not to have received a cent since her dismissal, not even her leave and pension money.
Mayaba said her woes had been aggravated by the fact that she was struggling to access social grants for her daughters, aged nine and six, because official documents indicated she was still employed by the Justice Department.
A communications officer at the Department of Social Services confirmed that Mayaba’s name was still captured in the Justice Department’s records, although she was not earning a salary.
Justice Department spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed that Mayaba was dismissed for absconding and said her leave was paid out in February last year.
“Her pension has not been paid out as she has not made contact with the department to complete some outstanding documents. Her pension will be paid out once the documents have been completed.”
Tlali promised to provide proof of Mayaba’s leave payout she denied receiving.
Public service trade union Nehawu shop steward David Melk, who is handling Mayaba’s case, expressed disappointment at what he described as the slow response from the department.
There was a “deliberate” dragging of feet on Mayaba’s matter and the union was perturbed that instead of the department protecting a whistleblower, they fired her.
“We would like to assure Mayaba that her matter is receiving priority and that we are going to do everything to have her reinstated,” said Melk.
Nehawu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said the union was deeply concerned by the Justice Department’s “flippant and casual approach” to worker issues.
The department had failed to resolve a number of issues raised by workers, including a lack of transformation, corruption and nepotism.
Nehawu declared a dispute on June 30, leading to the parties going for conciliation. The conciliation process failed.