Labour Court Rules Bakery Manager’s Dismissal Over Bible Verse Unfair

• A Zimbabwean bakery manager has won compensation after the Labour Court ruled his dismissal for sharing a Bible verse on WhatsApp was too harsh
• Cloudious Gogo was fired in 2022 amid workplace tensions over foreign workers
• The court said that while his actions showed poor judgment, they did not justify termination

KHAYELITSHA — A Zimbabwean bakery manager has won compensation after the Labour Court of South Africa ruled that his dismissal over a Bible verse shared on WhatsApp was too harsh.

According to IOL, Cloudious Gogo was fired in 2022 by Khayelitsha SuperSpar after posting a verse referencing foreigners gaining power, at a time when tensions over foreign workers were already high.

This was at a time of heightened xenophobic tensions that led to the creation of a Facebook group that accused the company of employing foreign nationals for jobs that could have been offered to residents.

Read also

"This cop has bigger dreams": Footage of traffic allegedly refusing R10k bribe has SA in debate

See post here:

What did the WhatsApp message say?

Gogo’s message, considered provocative and harmful by his employers, read:

"Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power while you gradually lose yours. They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end, they will be your rulers."

According to Gogo, he had no idea the post had reached beyond its intended audience and immediately removed it. The employer said they had met with the Facebook group creators to calm tensions, and separately held discussions with foreign national employees, asking them not to worsen the situation amid already strained workplace relations.

Read also

Former 'Idols SA' star Heinz Winckler and wife apologise for "overweight comments"

It was during this tense period, the employer claimed, that Gogo shared the message.

The Labour Court ruling

While his employer argued the message could inflame unrest, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found the dismissal unfair and awarded him three months’ salary.

The court agreed, with Judge Tapiwa Cecilia Gandidze ruling that although Gogo showed poor judgment, his actions did not amount to hate speech or justify dismissal. The employer’s attempt to overturn the ruling was dismissed, with each party ordered to cover their own legal costs.

Facebook users reacted to the news

Bernard Rwapunga said:

"Leave people's statuses alone. If you go around looking for trouble, you're most likely going to meet it."

Marvel Muhn said:

"Hmmmm he went too far."

Lameck Hugo Maluwa said:

"He was wrong."

Sunny Bullies Makamure said:

"A very provocative WhatsApp status indeed."

Willoxx Wijo Mukondwa said:

"When he said foreigners, who was he referring to? In my understanding, it’s what’s actually happening as we speak across Africa. Don’t our governments owe billions of dollars to the World Bank and the IMF?"

Read also

KwaMaphumulo religious group’s practices raise eyebrows, South Africans divided over cult claims

CCMA orders pay for 50 actors

In other news,50 actors won a CCMA case against Kagiso Modupe and Rashaka ‘Rush’ Muofhe's Bakwena Productions company. Reports said Danielle Naude from the Professional Background Artists (PBA) agency took the production company to the CCMA after the company failed to remunerate actors who appeared in the pair's Pound4Pound series that aired on BET. The CCMA has ordered Bakwena Productions to pay R19, 000 for the unpaid actors.

Previously, Briefly News reported that former employees of media personality Somizi Mhlongo took his company to the CCMA after alleging that they were unfairly dismissed in April 2025. Mhlongo and his partner allegedly failed to pay the employees their salaries, amounting to R165,402. A sheriff was instructed by the company to attach some of Somizi Mhlongo's movable assets to recover the money owed to the former employees.

Source: Briefly News