1 month ago
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A Free State teacher who was repeatedly late for work and isolated herself in the boardroom instead of invigilating students has lost her nearly R300,000 per year job.
Mokhuwa Nyakallo, who lectured at Motheo TVET College Central in Bloemfontein for 20 years, was fired in February. This came after she arrived late at work for 30 days, but the incident that raised eyebrows was when she spent three hours shut in the boardroom instead of invigilating students.
Nyakallo hauled the department of higher education and training before the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) in a bid to save her job. However, the ELRC dismissed her application this month.
The 15-page ruling details Nyakallo's odd behaviour.
Arbitrator Mothusi Maje was asked to determine whether Nyakallo’s dismissal was “substantively fair and whether the appropriate sanction was meted out by the respondent”. Maje heard Nyakallo’s boss had spoken to her about her tardiness after she had been warned in writing about her behaviour, and she promised to improve.
“[Nyakallo’s] reasons for coming late [to] work were that she had traditional beliefs,” the ruling reads.
Nyakallo’s boss then requested that a register be kept. This recorded the times staff arrived and those who were absent. A meeting to urge staff to be punctual was arranged in May 2022. The institution’s deputy principal and the labour relations department were invited to “sensitise employees on punctuality and late coming to work”.
“[The] labour relations [department] made a presentation to management and staff to make them aware of late coming to work,” the ruling reads.
“[Nyakallo] was part of the meeting, and she participated. [She] did not change her behaviour after the meeting was held. Late coming has a very serious and negative impact on the students.”
One lecturer fell sick between May and June 2022 and asked Nyakallo to invigilate his classes, and she agreed but she failed to do so.
“He personally looked for people to invigilate and contacted [Nyakallo] telephonically, who responded positively that she was on her way to work. There were many telephone calls made to [her]. WhatsApp messages were sent to all staff members,” the ruling reads.
“The institution was running out of invigilators. [Nyakallo] failed to invigilate, and her conduct affected students.”
The assistant campus manager testified Nyakallo shut herself inside the boardroom on May 27 2022 when she was supposed to be invigilating.
“[Nyakallo] was very rude, stating she was busy supporting and counselling her colleague at work,” the ruling reads.
“At this stage of arbitration, an inspection in-loco was conducted at the college premises. “[The assistant campus manager] testified [Nyakallo] opened the door at around 11am after he climbed on a chair and looked through the window outside the boardroom. There is a wellness programme at the college to handle the emotions of colleagues. It was unreasonable for them to lock the door.”
Nyakallo cited “issues with her salary adjustments” for being late for work.
“[Nyakallo] provided reasons for why she had arrived late at work, inter alia that the employer was underpaying her salary, and she did not have a car to drive in the morning to be on time at the workplace,” the ruling reads.
“Her defence that the reason for lateness was she first needed to drop her child at school. [She] also stated she raised the issue of the employment contract with the employer, which must indicate the time to start working in the morning and the knock-off time. The employer refused.”
Nyakallo complained that she had not attended the invigilators' training. She denied locking herself in the boardroom and claimed she was not aware she was supposed to invigilate. But Maje was not convinced.
“[Her] lack of remorse and her defiant refusal to accept responsibility for her actions is difficult to comprehend and even more difficult to accept. Such dereliction of duties could cause difficulties for the college as it plays second fiddle to comforting a colleague mourning the loss of a child years back,” the ruling reads.
“Teaching and learning should be [Nyakallo’s] first priority as it was the reason for her to be employed in the first place. The integrity of the college and students was compromised and could have led to a very disastrous situation between the department and the public at large.”
Maje dismissed the application.
“The gravity or seriousness of [Nyakallo’s] misconduct tilts the scale to an extent that even the strongest mitigating factors, like long service and a clean service record of discipline, are likely to have a minimal impact on the sanction imposed. In other words, whatever the amount of mitigation, the trust relationship is broken and will not be restored,” Maje ruled.
“[Nyakallo] committed egregious misconduct and there can be no doubt dismissal was fair and appropriate sanction.”
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