Durban - The head of a section of Westville Prison who claimed he was being muscled out of his post because of a clash with convicted murderer and politically connected prisoner Russell Ngubo, has lost his case in the Durban Labour Court.
Mfanafuthi Nxumalo, the head of the Medium B section at Westville Prison, said he was being transferred from his post because he had had an altercation with Ngubo.
On Monday Nxumalo’s attorney, Brett Purdon, said he would make an application for leave to appeal against the judgment on behalf of his client. He said Nxumalo was still based at Westville prison.
Nxumalo said Ngubo, who was once head of Pietermaritzburg prison, had told him he was “in charge of the prison”, he and the warders were his subordinates and that owing to his position, he should get preferential treatment.
“The applicant (Nxumalo) said Ngubo is a friend with, and has lines of communication to, people involved in the struggle and who are in positions of power in the government,” the Labour Court judgment says.
Nxumalo said Ngubo told him that he would arrange for him to be transferred to another prison if he did not follow his orders.
When a concerned Nxumalo was told he would be transferred, he secretly recorded a conversation he had had with Correctional Services officials about his State-issued cellphone. Nxumalo said he did this as he believed the department was about to commit an unfair labour practice relating to his transfer at the “behest of a convicted criminal”.
Nxumalo was charged for misconduct in connection with the recording, which the department said was irregular. He then approached the court claiming that the recording fell under the Protected Disclosures Act and an interim order was granted in his favour to halt disciplinary proceedings against him. The department had said the recording had prejudiced the administration, discipline and efficiency of the organisation, and dishonoured the confidentiality of matters.
But in a recent judgment, Judge Hamilton Cele dismissed Nxumalo’s case as he said the recording did not show that his transfer had been caused by Ngubo’s influence. He said the recording was not prohibited by law as Nxumalo had recorded a conversation he was part of, but that there was no “compelling evidence” to suggest the transfer had been orchestrated by Ngubo.
Judge Cele said a transcript of the recording showed that when Nxumalo brought up the issue of Ngubo and his demands, a senior official had made it clear that prison heads should not “succumb to the demands of prisoners”.
Nxumalo also spoke of political pressure and phone calls from politicians, but the official had reiterated there was no justification to deviate from the prison’s rules.
The official said Ngubo should be moved as he was causing difficulties and he was transferred to Serfontein Prison in Pietermaritzburg.
The Mercury