TVET lecturer who bullied a colleague loses council appeal

A UNION shop steward at a public TVET college has been fired for intimidating a colleague to attend a meeting.

Stanley Ngoako Moshobane, who was a lecturer and a National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) shop steward at Westcol TVET College, was also found guilty on a charge of forcing staff to attend a meeting

that was not authorised by management.

The Department of Higher Education and Training dismissed Moshobane on October 29 last year from his job as a business studies lecturer at Westcol’s Randfontein campus.

Moshobane turned to the Education Labour Relations Council to appeal against the dismissal, but arbitrator Coen Havenga ruled last week that Moshobane’s dismissal was substantively fair.

Chantal Labuschagne, the colleague that Moshobane was found to have intimidated, testified that he stormed into the administration office and slammed on the doors and tables.

All this while he was shouting that she should stop working because there is a strike by part-time lecturers, she testified.

She also submitted that Moshobane was aggressive and loud, and she found his behaviour abnormal for a lecturer.

Havenga also heard from Labuschagne that she was traumatised and suffered emotional shock after the incident. She said she did not seek medical treatment but relied on prayer to cope.

Labuschagne reported the encounter to acting campus manager Mandi de Klerk afterwards.

De Klerk testified in the arbitration hearing too, saying that management was not aware of any authorised staff meeting that day.

Moshobane did not have the authority to either arrange meetings with staff or to disrupt learning, she testified.

She said Moshobane prejudiced students because there was no justification for the interruption of learning.

Moshobane denied the charges levelled against him. While he confirmed telling Labuschagne about the meeting, he rejected her submissions that he acted to intimidate her. He testified that he did not recall slamming doors and tables.

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