Vulgar language used by a mining operator during a “Brother’s Keeper” safety meeting towards a female colleague had cost him dearly when he was fired, and that ruling was now endorsed by the Johannesburg Labour Court.

Siyabonga Buthelezi turned to the court in a bid to get his job back, as he said being fired was too harsh under the circumstances. Buthelezi had told the female employee during the meeting that she was talking “f…s…”. This took place in front of a number of other employees from other departments and sub-contractors.

Buthelezi worked for AEL Mining Services at the time and was an operator in the bagging department. The workplace safety awareness training was presented by a safety practitioner, only identified as Ms Z Mmboneni.

A PowerPoint presentation was displayed, and Mmboneni explained it, after which questions were invited from attendees about the issues raised in the presentation. However, some employees from the bagging department began raising questions concerning plant issues, which were not related to the presentation.

Mmboneni responded by saying the meeting was not the right forum to address those issues and asked them to curtail these questions. The meeting turned volatile, and some workers left. Buthelezi raised the need for a separate gathering room so that they could discuss these issues. Mmboneni suggested that the issues should be discussed during a plant meeting.

According to Mmboneni, Buthelezi started raising his voice, and she reiterated it was not the forum to discuss issues not pertaining to the safety meeting. It was at that point that Buthelezi said what she was saying was “f…s…” while looking directly at her. She said a shop steward then rebuked Buthelezi and told him to apologise to her, which he did not do.

Mmboneni said she believed that if the shop steward had not intervened, he would have continued to insult her. She recalled someone else who tried to stop him using vulgar language but could not identify the person.

According to her, there was a reaction from the meeting when Buthelezi uttered the objectionable words. She testified that she had felt embarrassed by being threatened and insulted in front of employees and contractors at the meeting.

The bagging shed manager, who was an attendee at the meeting, gave a similar version of the events to that given by Mmboneni. Buthelezi denied being angry or raising his voice, but he agreed that Mmboneni was not responding to the questions raised.

He wanted to say the showers at the plant where they were working were “f…dirty” but decided not to finish what he was going to say because he realised he might have been perceived as rude when he used the swear word “f…”. He disputed that anyone had tried to close his mouth or that the shop steward had apologised on his behalf.

Following an internal hearing, Buthelezi was fired for using vulgar language. His dismissal was confirmed during arbitration proceedings. It was not disputed that on either version, Buthelezi’s use of vulgar language was unacceptable.

He contended he should have been subjected to progressive discipline rather than being fired. He also argued that the arbitrator failed to appreciate that he acknowledged that the language used was not appropriate, and this showed he was contrite and remorseful.

But the labour court said this was not an instance of a worker using foul language while bantering with colleagues. The words were uttered during a meeting, and it was disrespectful towards the presenter of the event.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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