MBABANE: Macondza Dlamini, a former employee at Swazi Trac in Matsapha said he was unfairly dismissed from the company after he got injured while on duty and the matter later 'disappeared' in the Industrial Court.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, Dlamini said he was employed by the company in March 2019 and later got injured while on duty on the 18th August 2019, he was then rushed to hospital.
“I got injured while on duty and was rushed to hospital but upon return I was given a probation extension of one month having worked for over three months. The doctor then recommended a surgery since my injured wrist was getting worse but I was dismissed on 21 October 2019 on grounds that my probation had elapsed and that was before the surgery. I wrote a letter of demand to the company demanding compensation for unfair dismissal but they did no demonstrate willingness to resolve the matter and that was when I decided to report the matter to the Conciliation Mediation & Arbitration Commission (CMAC ). The company offered to compensate me with a notice pay of E 2650.00, they refused to go attend the arbitration but opted to take the matter to the Industrial Court and that’s where the the case died a natural death”, he said.
When reached for comments Wander Mkhonza, the Secretary General of the Almagated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA) said it was wrong for the company to dismiss the employee without a disciplinary hearing.
“This is wrong, being in probation doesn’t warrant an employer to dismiss an employee anyhow. An employer has an obligation to follow all the disciplinary channels if an employee did not meet certain requirements. You don’t just dismiss a worker without a disciplinary hearing, whether that worker is on probation or on fixed term contract”, said the ATUSWA Secretary General.
William Stein, the Managing Director (MD) of Swazi Trac avoided questions but proposed to have a private meeting with this journalist.
Swazi Trac