TransNamib has to cough up again

TRANSPORT parastatal TransNamib must fork out over N$500 000 to pay an employee illegally dismissed close to five years ago.

Magistrate Mikka Namweya told the company that they must also reinstate Bonifatius ‘Bonny’ Shikalepo, who was dismissed after 26 years of service for questioning somebody’s promotion.Namweya made the ruling last week during a district labour court hearing held at Ondangwa.Shikalepo, acting depot supervisor, was suspended in November 2004 with full pay but the condition of the suspension was changed to no pay in January the next year.He was suspended after he questioned the procedure followed to appoint a clerk, Petrus Erkana, who worked under him as his superior.Namweya was told how Kin Tjiho, who interviewed and appointed Erkana, suspended Shikalepo when he raised his grievances.The same Tjiho was involved in the investigation against Shikalepo, compiled the charges against him and was the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing.Magistrate Namweya said it was clear during testimonies that Tjiho also found Shikalepo guilty and dismissed him.When Shikalepo objected during the hearing, Tjiho refused to hear his case.Shikalepo subsequently appealed against the outcome and Jack Dempsey, General Manager of Operations, who was also involved in the suspension was again appointed as chairperson of the appeal hearing.Namweya said TransNamib was supposed to attend to Shikalepo’s grievances instead of charging him.’Allegations were not proven,’ he said adding that Shikalepo was also wrongly charged with industrial action when he called a meeting to inform colleagues that he was no longer their supervisor.Once he was demoted, Namweya said, Shikalepo was not given any other job description and just sat in his office doing nothing.He said the company was supposed to follow its rules which state that for disobedience, Shikalepo was supposed to get a ‘recorded warning’ while the punishment for insubordination was a ‘severe warning’.Namweya said there was no reason why both Tjiho and Dempsey deviated from those rules.He said both Dempsey and Tjiho were bias in their action. Namweya ordered that TransNamib reinstate Shikalepo and pay his salary backdated to February 2005.Shikalepo was represented by Jeff Tjitemisa. Tjitemisa also represented former manager Bernhardt !Gaëb who got a settlement of N$440 000, Erenfried ‘Tjivi’ Ndjoonduezu who got N$644 000, Godhard !Howaëb, who was given N$470 000, and Moses Mbai, whom the company reinstated following an illegal dismissal.