Ex-Discovery worker who tried to score voluntary severance package after R11m 'theft' in hot water

A former Discovery Life employee who tried to force the company he admitted to defrauding of more than R11m to pay him a voluntary severance package in 2020 has not only failed in his court bid, but now faces a criminal theft charge.

Aaron Mabaso turned to the labour court in Johannesburg in October 2020 to ask that a voluntary severance package (VSP) agreement he signed earlier that year be made an order of the court. Discovery Life opposed the application.

The matter stems from a retrenchment process Discovery Life initiated. Mabaso was among those affected.

He worked for Discovery Life from 2009, first as an administrator and then in 2014 as a team leader.

“On March 30 2020, Mabaso was given a VSP agreement, but he did not sign it at the time. The agreement provided for payments to be made to him and it contained a full and final settlement clause.

“On April 20 2020, Mabaso signed the agreement. This is the same day he admitted he committed a significant and elaborate fraud against Discovery Life and he had stolen £500,000 (R11.9m) from Discovery Life,” judge Connie Prinsloo said in her judgment.

When payment was not made in accordance with the VSP agreement, Mabaso approached the court .

Discovery Life argued Mabaso's application was “fundamentally defective and ill-conceived” as the VSP package was not a settlement agreement in terms of the Labour Relations Act. This was because its “validity and enforceability” were disputed.

Prinsloo said Discovery Life’s response to Mabaso’s application was that he had failed to disclose material facts when the agreement was entered into, which facts if they were known at the time would have caused Discovery Life not to enter into the agreement.

Discovery Life said it entered into the agreement with Mabaso after it was induced to do so by a material misrepresentation and it subsequently elected to retract from the agreement, which was therefore rendered non-existent, invalid and unenforceable.

Prinsloo said the agreement of April 20 2020 was not an agreement in settlement of a dispute that Mabaso had the right to refer to arbitration or to the labour court, as there was no dispute before the conclusion of the agreement.

She said the voluntary termination of an employment contract by agreement did not constitute a dismissal unless a case was made out that the employee was forced to enter into the agreement, which was not so in Mabaso’s case.

Discovery has robust processes in place to identify, monitor and mitigate internal fraud. Owing to this, the fraud committed by Mabaso, which he admitted under oath to, was detected

—  Discovery Life

“On the contrary, he seeks to enforce the voluntary separation agreement concluded. A termination of employment in circumstances where an employer and employee agreed to terminate a contract of employment by mutual consent, does not constitute a dismissal as the contract terminated as a consequence of the parties’ own agreement.”

Prinsloo said in the absence of a dismissal or any other cause of action in terms of the LRA, there was not a dispute that Mabaso had the right to refer for arbitration or to the court.

Discovery Life has since confirmed it opened two criminal cases against Mabaso, in the UK and SA. 

“Discovery has robust processes in place to identify, monitor and mitigate internal fraud. Owing to this, the fraud committed by Mabaso, which he admitted under oath to, was detected.

“ VitalityLife, where the crime was committed, is Discovery’s Life insurance business in the UK. In this respect, Discovery has opened criminal cases in the UK and SA,” Discovery Life told TimesLIVE Premium. 

The company confirmed a case had been registered with the police but declined to divulge further details.