Gamagara Municipality to appeal CCMA ruling after workers fired a day after being hired win compensation

The Gamagara Municipality will be filing an appeal against an award granted by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in favour of six of its previous workers.

This follows the ruling that six workers employed by Gamagara Municipality in the Northern Cape are entitled to 12 months' compensation after they were reportedly fired a day after being hired.

The workers - Itlotlo Tong, Anna Morogong, Onalenna Moreeng, Gadinele Sekunkwe, Princess Modise, and Omphile Motseonageng – were appointed as general assistants on July 1 but were dismissed the following day without a valid reason, according to various news reports.

The CCMA's default arbitration award, issued at the end of July found that the municipality's explanation for the dismissals, a claim of an error in the appointment process, to be "strange, improbable and unacceptable".

However, the municipality says it “remains committed to fair labour practices and to complying with South Africa’s labour laws”.

Commissioner Amogelang Shadrack Bacwadi emphasised that it was "impossible" that the workers could have been appointed in error and criticised the municipality for not attending the hearing despite proper notification.

Bacwadi further stated that as a government institution, the municipality is expected to have competent human resource personnel well-versed in South African labour laws, which was not evident in this case.

The workers had contacted the Orange Farm Human Rights Advice Centre for support and subsequently brought their case to the CCMA.

Gamagara Municipality reportedly failed to appear at the hearing, leading to the default award in favour of the workers. However, it has argued that this is not true, as it wasn’t “given a fair opportunity to present its case”.

“No official notice of the sitting was served on the municipality and, as such, no employer representative was present during the hearing,” a statement drafted by the municipal manager, Lebogang Seetile, read.

The CCMA ordered Gamagara Municipality to pay each worker R162 935 by the end of this month, with interest accruing thereafter.

Gamagara Local Municipality is a local government entity in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality's name, of Setswana origin, refers to a dry riverbed named after a man named Mogara.

The main towns within the municipality are Kathu, Olifantshoek, and Dingleton.

IOL