A former employee of Standard Bank has lost an appeal at the Labour Court in Johannesburg following his dismissal for dishonesty after submitting a false balance sheet.

Banele Innocent Mbuyane was employed as a treasury custodian and worked under the supervision of N Nkosi, with both responsible for handling cash received from the security company SBV.

The protocol required that any discrepancies in cash amounts received be rectified immediately, with accurate balance sheets generated to reflect the true cash status.

The chain of events began on October 18, 2019, when a delivery of coin from SBV was weighed by Mbuyane, revealing a shortfall in one of the bags containing 20 and 10 cent coins. After discussing the matter with Nkosi, they agreed on the shortfall, with Nkosi instructing Mbuyane to return the erroneous bag during the next delivery from SBV.

However, in a concerning breach of protocol, Nkosi advised him that the system would still record the original full amount, rather than the reduced quantity actually received.

The truth of their misrepresentation surfaced during a surprise cash inspection by the bank’s risk mitigation team. The inspection revealed not just one but three bags that were short, prompting an internal disciplinary enquiry that ultimately confirmed Mbuyane’s dismissal alongside Nkosi.

Seeking to contest his dismissal, Mbuyane turned to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), where it was ruled that his dismissal was both substantively and procedurally fair.

Undeterred, Mbuyane appealed the decision at the Labour Court, where Judge Robert Lagrange presided over the matter.

Judge Lagrange looked at Mbuyane’s arguments and the arbitrator’s reasoning for dismissing his application.

One of Mbuyane’s defences was that he was acting under the instruction of his supervisor and had no training on what to do in such a situation and going against Nkosi would amount to insubordination.

The arbitrator found that Mbuyane and Nkosi jointly created the document that misrepresented the correct cash status. He noted that even though Mbuyane knew it was a misrepresentation, he did not report the misrepresentation to anyone else.

Regarding Mbuyane’s defence of obeying his supervisor, the branch manager testified that this did not mean he should have obeyed an unlawful instruction, which was contrary to the values and principles of the bank.

The arbitrator agreed and noted that it would have been clear to Mbuyane that he was being asked to unlawfully misrepresent the true cash balance. The fact that his supervisor had the final word on the matter did not excuse his conduct in agreeing to misrepresent the true balance.

Moreover, the arbitrator said Mbuyane actively participated in making the misrepresentation and he was dishonest, and his actions were a serious misconduct. 

Judge Lagrange expressed satisfaction with the arbitrator’s conclusions, affirming that the findings regarding Mbuyane’s misconduct were reasonable based on the evidence provided.

“That said, it does not mean that another reasonable arbitrator could not have concluded, on the same evidence, that the sanction of dismissal was too harsh,” said the judge.

Ultimately, Mbuyane’s appeal was dismissed.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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