A local man was dismissed by his employers after using allocated bursary funds to cover his personal expenses.
The employee was ultimately unsuccessful at the Labour Court, after instituting an action to get his job back, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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Thembile Mabhaso, previously worked for Astron Energy, where he had been employed from 2012 until the beginning of 2020 and earned a salary of R83 500 per month.
Towards the end of 2018, Mabhaso applied for a work bursary in order to further his education at the University of Cape Town.
Astron Energy agreed to pay the study fees and the cost of registration amounted to R25 500. The full registration amount was paid into the employee’s account in February of 2019.
Mabhaso proceeded to only pay R10 000 towards registration fees and the remainder had been used to cover his personal expenses. When commenting on the matter, Mabhaso said that he intended to use his December bonus to cover the rest of the registration costs.
In November of that same year, he asked the company to cover the outstanding fees, the total for which was R37 000 at the time, with interest included.
The larger than expected amount caused the employer to request a proof of payment of the initial R25 000.
Ultimately, the interest incurred and lack of initial payment of the full amount resulted in the matter escalating to the company’s Human Resources department. Eventually, Mabhaso was charged with misconduct, reports IOL.
After a disciplinary hearing had taken place in 2021, the company chose to dismiss the employee.
‘Throughout the process, Mabhaso’s demeanour was one of entitlement and he showed no remorse or acknowledgment of the error of his ways’ stated the arbitrator, according to Times Live.
Mabhaso appealed the dismissal but the appeal was dismissed and this led him to take action in the Labour Court.
Issues and delays arose with the allegedly chosen legal reprentative and as such, Mabhaso ultimately represented himself in the proceedings.
He asked the court to provide an order which instructed Astron Energy to reinstate him and instead issue him with a final written warning.
His application was unsuccessful, due to the fact that the acting judge in the matter held that the relationship of trust between the employer and employee had been breached and because of this, the matter did not have any prospects of success.
Mabhaso however reportedly intends to appeal the judgement.
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