If social development minister Sisisi Tolashe and her director-general Peter Netshipale fail to withdraw the immediate termination of the suspended chief of staff by 10am on Monday, they could find themselves hauled before the labour court — personally on the hook for legal costs.
Zanele Simmons, who was fired on Friday afternoon after being suspended for allegedly falsifying the CV of a 22-year-old political appointee, is fighting back, claiming she is being scapegoated in a scandal that has laid bare growing tensions and factional battles within the department of social development.
Through her attorneys, PC Khoza Incorporated, Simmons has given the minister and DG until Monday morning to retract both her termination and suspension, failing which she will seek urgent relief from the court.
Her legal team will also ask that Tolashe and Netshipale be held personally liable for costs, arguing that their actions are unlawful and “taxpayers should not be made to pay” for what she says amounts to a witch-hunt.
“Our client is being made a scapegoat,” the firm said in a letter seen by Sunday Times. “Your conduct indicates you are trying by all means to circumvent the disciplinary hearing where our client would place her version.”
Simmons’s firing follows weeks of controversy after reports that she had been suspended for allegedly falsifying the CV of Lesedi Mabiletja, the 22-year-old niece of Tolashe’s special adviser Ngwako Kgatla.
Mabiletja, who holds a diploma and has almost no work experience, was appointed to the senior chief of staff post in the minister’s private office — a job that comes with a salary of about R1.4m a year.
Her CV had been sent by her uncle to Simmons, who forwarded it to HR. Simmons, who does not have a personal relationship with Mabiletja beyond office dealings, merely passed the CV on to HR.
Internal documents show that Mabiletja’s appointment did not comply with public service regulations, which require a minimum NQF level 7 qualification and at least five years’ experience. A memo at the time warned the acting DG that proceeding with the appointment could invite audit findings and reputational damage for non-compliance — but the appointment went ahead.
Simmons, who had been seconded to the National Development Agency — a DSD entity — on August 25, was last Monday, along with Mabiletja, served notices of precautionary suspension.
The letter accused her of using the minister’s electronic signature without permission and of falsifying a CV.
On Tuesday, the department issued a public statement confirming that both Simmons and Mabiletja had been provisionally suspended on full pay.
“The allegations of dishonesty and misrepresentation against the chief of staff and the personal assistant are too serious to ignore,” Netshipale said in the statement. “They undermine our effort to build an ethical and capable state.”
But even before the department’s investigation had begun, Simmons’s suspension turned into an outright dismissal. On Friday afternoon she received an email titled “Termination of Employment Due to Incompatibility”.
“Please be informed that the department has taken a decision to terminate your services due [to] the breakdown in the trust relationship,” the letter read. “You are required to submit all department property in your possession with immediate effect.”
Her lawyers say the move was both procedurally and substantively unfair, and that she was never given a chance to respond to the allegations.
Mabiletja has since been quietly shifted from the chief of staff post to become Tolashe’s personal assistant — another senior role, still at odds with her limited qualifications.
Simmons’s legal team says it will argue that the department’s conduct violates the Labour Relations Act and the Code of Good Practice, which require due process and a right of reply.
“The termination was issued without a disciplinary hearing, without notice, and without compliance with the SMS handbook,” stated her attorneys, confirming that the papers are ready for filing.
If the minister and DG do not comply with the 10am deadline, Simmons will ask the labour court to order her reinstatement and set aside the termination and suspension.
The DSD’s acting communications head Sandy Godlwana confirmed that Simmons had been notified of her termination on Friday, and that they had received legal correspondence from her and regarded the matter as sub judice.
“We are now consulting with our lawyers on how to respond and will not be speaking to the media before we have compiled our own response,” she said, adding the department did not communicate via the media.
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