KZN prisons boss faces the axe

AFTER spending most of the last three years on suspension, moves are finally underway to have KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services Commissioner Mnikelwa Nxele sacked. Picture: Supplied.

AFTER spending most of the last three years on suspension, moves are finally underway to have KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services Commissioner Mnikelwa Nxele sacked. Picture: Supplied.

Published Aug 5, 2019

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Durban - AFTER spending most of the last three years on suspension, moves are finally under way to have KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services Commissioner Mnikelwa Nxele sacked.

Nxele’s bid to have his suspension lifted failed in the Labour Court on Friday. He was refused an application to force the Correctional Services Department to reinstate him.

Nxele took the fight to have his suspension lifted to court in January, days after he was fingered by former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi during the state capture commission of inquiry for allegedly taking bribes.

Agrizzi alleged that Nxele received monthly bribes of R57500, a claim he intended challenging.

Correctional Services at the time said that Nxele’s suspension had nothing to do with him being implicated at the commission of inquiry.

Although the timing of his suspension was questionable, according to Correctional Services, Nxele’s suspension was a “precautionary suspension” and the culmination of a process that began before the inquiry.

The department would not reveal more details of his suspension, saying the matter was related to an employment relationship.

Nxele had told the media during one of his appearances at the Labour Court in January that he was suspended after a disciplinary process involving a manager.

He said the manager had been dismissed and reinstated in 2014 by the Bargaining Council, and resumed work in November 2018.

This was not the first time that Nxele was suspended.

In 2016, he was suspended for disobeying a direct order to reinstate former special projects deputy director Smangele Ngobese, and for also refusing to participate in an interview panel for several senior positions.

Nxele was alleged to have not followed due processes when Ngobese was fired in 2014.

Ngobese was reinstated by the Bargaining Council and resumed his duties last year.

Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said now that the Labour Court had ruled against the lifting of Nxele’s suspension, the internal process that includes a disciplinary hearing would continue. “The reason why we went to court was because Nxele took us to court. He is on suspension pending the outcome of the internal process. We will now convene a hearing and continue with other internal processes. Unfortunately I cannot divulge more about those processes as the matter is between employer and employee,” he said.

The chief deputy commissioner of Correctional Services, James Smalberger, is acting as KZN head until the Nxele matter has been resolved.

Nxele was not available for comment.

Daily News

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