Gauteng Finance and Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile and one of his departments face the embarrassment of having expensive furniture and appliances auctioned off by the sheriff to enforce a R1.14 million bargaining council award.

On Thursday, the sheriff responsible for Johannesburg Central descended on Maile’s office at Umnotho House on Eloff Street to record an inventory of furniture and appliances across the 15 floors occupied by the provincial Economic Development Department.

This follows the department’s Corporate Governance Director, Sibusiso Dlangalala, who obtained an award reinstating him in November last year at the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC).

Last month, the award was certified by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in accordance with the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

The LRA states that an arbitration award issued by a commissioner is final and binding and may be enforced as if it were a Labour Court order in respect of which a writ has been issued.

After certification, the CCMA then submits the certified award and the completed LRA 7.18 form to the deputy sheriff for enforcement.

The sheriff arrived at the department’s office just after midday on Thursday to take the inventory, and after to-ing and fro-ing by senior officials, he was escorted by security guards to begin his work, starting in Maile’s plush 16th-floor office.

Maile’s spokesperson, Onwabile Lubhelwana, said the sheriff of the court has already been to their offices and taken the inventory.

“However, removal and execution have not taken place yet. The department is taking the matter under review to the Labour Court. Our attorneys will engage the sheriff to ensure that departmental property is not sold in execution while the matter is still subject to the appeals process,” he said.

Lubhelwana said out of respect for due legal process, the department would not comment further on the matter.

Dlangalala’s troubles, according to GPSSBC Commissioner John Siavhe’s ruling, started in 2012 when he was offered a five-year fixed-term contract.

He told the GPSSBC that he had served the department for several years under successive fixed-term contracts but a dispute arose following the March 2024 termination of his employment, which he challenged as unlawful and procedurally unfair.

Dlangalala had been employed permanently before he was handed the performance-based five-year contracts.

The department claimed he does not have the qualification that was required when the position was advertised and that he was not dismissed but fixed-term contracts have beginning and end dates.

At the bargaining council, Dlangalala explained that he was challenging the department’s failure to indefinitely retain him after the lapse of the 2012-2016 fixed-term contract from December 1, 2016.

In addition, he said there were attempts to make him permanent until he was booted nearly two years ago.

Commissioner Siavhe said the department could not take a decision to appoint members of the senior management service on a fixed term in permanent establishments and then decide to correct it by itself rather than approaching the courts with jurisdiction.

“The applicant (Dlangalala) successfully established the existence of the dismissal; he also proved that he had a reasonable expectation to be retained indefinitely in the permanent position,” reads the award.

He ordered that Dlangalala be reinstated with back pay of R1,138,387.25 based on his monthly salary when he was dismissed.

Additionally, if at the time of calculating his back pay his package has improved, it must be based on the new notch, and if there are any bonuses he forfeited as a result of his unfair dismissal, that should be calculated as well.

The back pay was meant to be paid by December 1, 2025, the same day he was due to report for duty, but the department informed him it was taking the award on review and stopped him from returning to work. 

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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