A Cape Town law enforcement officer with 14 years of clean service has been dismissed after Facebook photographs showed him attending a staff year-end party while on sick leave. The officer, identified as May, was employed by the City's Safety and Security Directorate since 2010 before his dismissal in February 2024. The case dates back to December 2022 when May was booked off sick from December 12 to 14.
According to the City's leave administration guidelines, employees on sick leave are required to conduct themselves consistently with recovery from their illness and medical treatment. The policy also requires employees who are confined to their homes while on sick leave to remain there, except when travelling for medical treatment or consultation. May was familiar with the policy but claimed he attended the party after receiving a telephone call from a colleague.
May initially faced three disciplinary charges: leaving work before the end of his shift without permission, dishonesty relating to his sick leave, and insubordination for attending an unauthorised staff function. He was acquitted of the first charge but found guilty of the second and third charges at his disciplinary hearing. He was subsequently dismissed in February 2024. On appeal, the guilty finding on the insubordination charge was overturned.
The South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC), which proceeded to arbitration. The arbitrator found in November 2024 that May's dismissal was substantively fair. SAMWU and May then approached the Labour Court seeking to have the arbitration award reviewed and set aside.
A major obstacle was that the review application was filed outside the statutory six-week period. The arbitration award was received in November 2024, while the review application was filed on February 2025, 21 days late. The applicants required condonation from the court but failed to provide a proper explanation for the delay in their founding affidavit.
The court found that the applicants had not properly made out a case for condonation and ultimately refused condonation for the late filing of the review application. The court also considered the merits of the review and found that the arbitrator had properly assessed the evidence and probabilities. The court accepted that May attended the staff function while on sick leave and that the City's policy regulated how employees were required to conduct themselves.
The court concluded that the finding that May's dismissal was substantively fair fell within the range of reasonable outcomes available to the arbitrator. The Labour Court dismissed both the condonation application and the review application. The court's decision was made by Acting Judge Snyman, who found that there was no basis to interfere with the arbitrator's ruling that losing his job was a fair sanction.
Key points
- The Labour Court has upheld the dismissal of a Cape Town metro officer who attended a year-end party while on sick leave.
- The officer's 14 years of clean service did not outweigh the seriousness of the misconduct.
- The court's decision was based on the officer's failure to follow the City's leave administration guidelines.
