Police Captain Wins 6-Year Fight to Keep Job and 10 Years Back Pay
- Captain Meshack Phopho's life fell apart when he was wrongfully convicted of assault
- He was cleared by a disciplinary hearing but criminal charges were pressed against him and he was convicted
- He won his appeal but had to fight for years to get reinstated; he won his appeal and 10 years worth of back pay
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After being wrongly convicted of indecent assault a police captain Meshack Phopho fought to get his job back for six years and was rewarded with ten years back pay and his old job and rank.
Back in 2010, he was accused of indecently assaulting a colleague at Maclear police station in the Eastern Cape.
Source: Facebook
A disciplinary hearing had found that he was innocent but criminal charges were pressed and the court convicted him, sentencing him to ten years in prison.
However, the labour court in Gqeberha ruled that Phopho just be reinstated, but the then-commissioner Riah Phiyega refused and rejected the recommendation to reinstate.
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The High Court had upheld Phopho's appeal. He didn't give up and eventually won his case in the labour court.
However, the police unleashed three lawyers on him in the appeals court. Phopho only had his legal aid lawyer to represent him.
Three judges ruled that Phiyega “acted arbitrarily and irrationally [and] in contravention of the principle of legality in the constitution.”
Earlier, Briefly News reported that Nontle Nako took almost eight years off work to study was fired from her position as a deputy chief education specialist. She was studying for a psychology doctorate in the US. She was fired but has been reinstated and has won R2 million in back pay.
She appealed her termination by the Eastern Cape Education Department where she asked for R3.4 million in back pay.
This was declined by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) arbitrator, instead, she got another offer of just over R2 million which covers her salary for six weeks when she returned from America and the period after she was fired in 2016 according to Times Live.
In other news, Briefly News reported that Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje of the South African Labour Court recently overturned a ruling made by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to have a man who travelled to work reinstated despite having known that he was positive for Covid-19.
The man, Sturrman Mogotsi, an assistant butcher at national meat supplier Eskort Limited, went against Covid-19 protocols when he tested positive for Covid-19 but proceeded to travel to work daily.
In footage shared by the company, Mogotsi could also be seen proceeding to hug another employee who has a heart condition after walking into work only a day after he was made aware of his positive Covid-19 test.
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Source: Briefly News
