Post Office fires employee suspected of killing Uyinene Mrwetyana

The man arrested for the rape and murder of 19-year-old UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana has been summarily dismissed from the Post Office.

The action came after a comprehensive investigation by the Post Office was concluded last week. The man, who cannot be named due to a court order, is behind bars awaiting his next court appearance in November.

"The accused has since been summarily dismissed as he made himself guilty of gross misconduct by intentionally misleading the organisation and stating under oath that he had never been convicted of any criminal offence," the department of communications, telecommunications and postal services has confirmed.

On Friday, minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams met the Post Office board where she demanded action be taken against those who knew the accused was a convicted criminal and did nothing about it.

"The Post Office heads of human resources as well as security and investigations have been placed on precautionary suspension while the investigation is proceeding," her spokesperson Nthabeleng Mokitimi-Dlamini said.

The Sunday Times reported earlier this month that Mrwetyana's confessed killer was on a list of 300 Post Office employees flagged by the State Security Agency in June 2018.

Despite being aware that he had a criminal conviction, no action was taken.

"The Post Office is in the process of further investigations to ascertain the appropriate actions to be taken against identified employees. In this respect, the minister urged the Post Office to swiftly act on affected employees, especially those in the mail and frontline services," Mokitimi-Dlamini said.

Ndabeni-Abrahams has also instructed her director-general to ensure there is security vetting at all state-owned entities that fall under her department.