'I'm a man in my house': SASSA worker dismissed for assaulting manager loses Labour Appeal Court
The Labour Appeal Court has upheld the dismissal of a SASSA senior grants administrator who was found to have assaulted his manager and committed gross insubordination during a dispute over a social-grant application.
A SASSA worker, NN, who was dismissed for assaulting his manager, has lost his appeal against the dismissal. NN, a Senior Grants Administrator, was fired in November 2020 for misconduct, following an incident in August 2019 at SASSA’s Vulindlela Local Office in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. The court upheld the findings that NN's dismissal was both substantively and procedurally fair.
The dispute began when NN refused to explain a declined social grant application in front of the woman and her niece, who had returned to the office to complain about their treatment. When NN's manager, Mr M, insisted on an explanation, NN accused him of not respecting him and struck the manager, causing him bodily harm. The women who witnessed the incident testified that NN had struck Mr M. NN denied the assault, but later admitted to "pulling" Mr M while trying to open the door.
The Labour Appeal Court found that NN's conduct amounted to gross insubordination and that his dismissal was justified.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
