The council of Ekurhuleni has on Thursday endorsed the decision to fire an employee over racist comments.
A statement released by the office of the executive mayor‚ Mzwandile Masina‚ said the employee was dismissed for making a racist remark to her colleagues.
“Racism will not be tolerated in the City of Ekurhuleni. We have a dark past of racial injustices and no one will undermine efforts to build a non-racist‚ non-sexist and democratic society‚” Masina said.
The city manager learned on Monday‚ July 31 that an employee wrote an email with the following wording to her colleagues: “Ek is moeg met hierdie bobbejane hier hulle dink ek sal bedank soos meneer ……. en ek sal nie” (I’m tired of these baboons here they think I’ll resign like mister …. and I won’t)
“The City wants to make it clear that it has a zero tolerance approach towards racism and it shall deal harshly with any instance that is brought to its attention.
The City views racist conduct as constituting exceptional circumstances as envisaged in law and as such the employer can dispense with pre-dismissal procedures.
“This commitment by the City shall be implemented in respect of every aspect of the scourge of racism whether by employees or by members of the community who are conducting business with the City‚” Masina’s office said on Thursday.
The dismissal was presented by the mayor before the council meeting in Germiston on Thursday.
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