The labour court has declared irregular and unlawful the decision by human settlements deputy director-general responsible for corporate services, Nelly Letsholonyane, to permanently employ nine public liaison officers (PLOs) in 2019.
The court also reviewed and set aside the permanent employment of the nine.
The court passed this judgment on Monday after a review application launched by the human settlements minister in 2020 against a decision taken by Letsholonyane to permanently employ the PLOs.
The minister had contended Letsholonyane did not have the authority to appoint employees in terms of the Public Service Act, public service regulations and the department’s recruitment and selection policy.
The application was opposed by the PLOs, who stated that their appointments were as a result of repetitive extension of their fixed-term contracts and this created legitimate expectation they would be permanently employed.
After the establishment of a national call centre in 2009 to render assistance to public housing beneficiaries, the department recruited and appointed 18 PLOs for a fixed-term contract to run from September 1 2009 to August 31 2010.
However, the department extended the contracts of the PLOs until it was established the work required to be done at the national call centre had subsided.
During the extension of their contracts, the department was establishing the Community Schemes Ombudsman Service (CSOS), its entity responsible for dispute resolution involving parties within community schemes.
The department seconded nine PLOs to the CSOS, who were later employed by the CSOS after a recruitment process.
The other nine PLOs could not be absorbed by the department when their assignments at the national call centre were drastically diminished.
The court said after successive extensions of their contracts, a decision was taken in December 2018 that the department could not permanently employ the nine PLOs.
However, Letsholonyane had unilaterally issued the PLOs with appointment letters informing them they were permanent employees of the department.
The application to review the appointments was prepared in early 2020 before Covid-19 struck. The minister only filed the application after Covid-19 restrictions were eased later in the year.
Acting judge Smanga Sethene said counsel for the minister and the DDG agreed there was no authority conferred by any law on Letsholonyane to make the appointments in question.
“The appointments of the PLOs by [Letsholonyane] constitute illegality and cannot stand. There is no evidence of any legal expectation ever created that the PLOs would be permanently employed within the department,” Sethene said.
The ministry said the judgment confirmed human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi’s assertion that there had been wrongdoing in the department, which had exposed the department to litigation.
“It is my belief that we are on the path to restoring the credibility of the department and ensuring that all public servants understand that compliance with policies and prescripts within public service is not optional. We are playing our part in professionalisation of public service,” Kubayi said.
The department said it will start the process to implement this judgment.
This is not the first time that Letsholonyane and Kubayi have faced off in court.
Labour court rules human settlements DDG unlawfully appointed employees
Image: Sandile Ndlovu
The labour court has declared irregular and unlawful the decision by human settlements deputy director-general responsible for corporate services, Nelly Letsholonyane, to permanently employ nine public liaison officers (PLOs) in 2019.
The court also reviewed and set aside the permanent employment of the nine.
The court passed this judgment on Monday after a review application launched by the human settlements minister in 2020 against a decision taken by Letsholonyane to permanently employ the PLOs.
The minister had contended Letsholonyane did not have the authority to appoint employees in terms of the Public Service Act, public service regulations and the department’s recruitment and selection policy.
The application was opposed by the PLOs, who stated that their appointments were as a result of repetitive extension of their fixed-term contracts and this created legitimate expectation they would be permanently employed.
After the establishment of a national call centre in 2009 to render assistance to public housing beneficiaries, the department recruited and appointed 18 PLOs for a fixed-term contract to run from September 1 2009 to August 31 2010.
However, the department extended the contracts of the PLOs until it was established the work required to be done at the national call centre had subsided.
During the extension of their contracts, the department was establishing the Community Schemes Ombudsman Service (CSOS), its entity responsible for dispute resolution involving parties within community schemes.
The department seconded nine PLOs to the CSOS, who were later employed by the CSOS after a recruitment process.
The other nine PLOs could not be absorbed by the department when their assignments at the national call centre were drastically diminished.
The court said after successive extensions of their contracts, a decision was taken in December 2018 that the department could not permanently employ the nine PLOs.
However, Letsholonyane had unilaterally issued the PLOs with appointment letters informing them they were permanent employees of the department.
The application to review the appointments was prepared in early 2020 before Covid-19 struck. The minister only filed the application after Covid-19 restrictions were eased later in the year.
Acting judge Smanga Sethene said counsel for the minister and the DDG agreed there was no authority conferred by any law on Letsholonyane to make the appointments in question.
“The appointments of the PLOs by [Letsholonyane] constitute illegality and cannot stand. There is no evidence of any legal expectation ever created that the PLOs would be permanently employed within the department,” Sethene said.
The ministry said the judgment confirmed human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi’s assertion that there had been wrongdoing in the department, which had exposed the department to litigation.
“It is my belief that we are on the path to restoring the credibility of the department and ensuring that all public servants understand that compliance with policies and prescripts within public service is not optional. We are playing our part in professionalisation of public service,” Kubayi said.
The department said it will start the process to implement this judgment.
This is not the first time that Letsholonyane and Kubayi have faced off in court.
Human settlements minister Kubayi ‘unlawfully’ sacked deputy director after being stuck in lift for an hour
In a case in May, the labour court declared that Kubayi’s decision to dismiss Letsholonyane from her employment on April 20 this year was in breach of the contract of employment and unlawful. The court reinstated her.
Her dismissal followed an incident where Kubayi was stuck in a lift for over an hour at her offices in March.
In August, the court ruled that the execution of the May order granted in Letsholonyane’s favour is not suspended, pending the application and petition for leave to appeal, or any subsequent applications or appeals.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
‘We don’t want politics, we want toilets and water’: Cape rail corridor shack dwellers tell ministers
Inside National Treasury proposals to reduce the size of government
PALI LEHOHLA | Nailed it! In counterrevolution, government is backing away from actual power
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos