Axed former State Security Agency top spy and erstwhile South African ambassador to Japan, Thulani Dlomo, has lost his legal bid to have his axing overturned.
Dlomo turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, where he asked for an order declaring his dismissal by the State Security Agency, to have been procedurally and substantively unfair.
He asked for an order that he be reinstated to his former position and be compensated retrospectively for the damages suffered “for the years” that he had been home “due to the unlawful and unfair conduct of the respondents”.
The application was brought against the Director-General and the Ministry of the State Security Agency.
Dlomo was employed by the State Security Agency until September 27, 2019, when his employment was formally terminated.
Although he was employed by the State Security Agency, he was deployed to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation as ambassador of South Africa to Japan.
On January 31, 2019, his deployment as an ambassador in Tokyo was terminated.
The then minister of state security, Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, instructed Dlomo to report to the agency on his return.
Dlomo requested special leave of 21 days from February 1, 2019 in order to deal with family matters. In this letter, he also expressed his dissatisfaction with the termination of his secondment, deeming it “clearly unfair and discriminatory”. He also said he was going to consult his lawyers.
He however did not receive permission for his long leave.
It was later recorded that he had not reported for work since his return from Japan and that all efforts to engage with him had been ignored.
Dlomo was eventually informed via a letter that he was discharged by operation of law. His salary and benefits were also terminated with immediate effect.
Judge Anneli Basson commented that despite this letter, “inexplicably” he still did not communicate with his immediate supervisor.
It was only on December 6, 2019, that Dlomo sent a letter to the acting director-general at the time, in which he said he had earlier communicated with the director-general and that he had submitted his medical certificates to her.
This was disputed by the State Security Agency, which also argued that in terms of the law, any member who is absent – whether voluntarily or involuntarily – from his or her official duties without the permission of the Director-General for a period exceeding 10 consecutive working days, is deemed to have been discharged from the agency on account of misconduct.
Judge Basson committed that it is clear that Dlomo was absent without leave for an extended period until his final discharge on September 27, 2019.
She said he never submitted a request nor had he received permission from the Acting Director-General to be absent from work. If he was medically unfit, he had an opportune moment to engage with the Acting Director-General to explain his absence.
“He chose to simply ignore the explicit instruction to report for duty on the first working day following receipt of the letter. If he was medically unfit to do so, this was an opportune moment to engage with the Acting Director-General to explain his absence. There is no explanation on the papers as to why the applicant chose to ignore the Acting Director-General’s express requests.”
In turning down his application, the judge concluded that Dlomo has been discharged by operation of law.
Pretoria News