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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
THE Labour Court has suspended the dismissal of a Nkayi teacher who was fired for absenting himself from work after he was sent packing by villagers for allegedly sexually abusing his colleagues and pupils using mubobobo.

Mr Thula Ncube, a teacher at Zinyangeni Primary School, was fired in 2010 by his superiors without going through a disciplinary hearing.

Mr Ncube failed to report for duty from August 4 to September 14 in 2010 after he was forced to flee the school by villagers who accused him of sexually abusing female teachers and pupils.

The matter was last year remitted to the Labour Court by the Supreme Court so that the lower court could deal with the grounds of appeal raised by Mr Ncube.

The latest ruling by Bulawayo Labour Court judge Justice Mercy Moya Matshanga follows an appeal by Mr Ncube challenging his dismissal. He cited the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Lazarus Dokora as the respondent.

Justice Moya Matshanga ruled that Mr Ncube’s dismissal was unfair.

“In casu, the appellant’s employer was aware of the volatile situation at Zinyangeni Primary School and therefore he (Mr Ncube) was between rock and hard place and could not do anything,” she said.

The judge said Mr Ncube was faced with a life threatening occupational hazard.

“He had been beaten by the villagers and the employer had not done anything about it to protect him. In my view, the employer should not have dismissed the appellant without hearing him especially when they were aware of the situation on the ground. They denied him the right to be heard and did not take into consideration circumstances that surrounded his absence, in summarily dismissing him,” said Justice Moya Matshanga.

She ordered the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to remit the matter for a full disciplinary hearing.

“I hereby set aside the decision of summary dismissal and remit the matter for a full disciplinary hearing by the relevant authority within 30 days of receipt of the order,” ruled Justice Moya Matshanga.

Mr Ncube said he faced resistance from all areas he went to teach as communities perceived him to be a wizard who disturbed their livelihood.

Mr Ncube told the court that during his absence from work, he was at his rural home after the headmaster and the local councillor allegedly ganged up and chased him away from school.

“They beat me up and removed me from school and I was transferred to Makhasane Primary School, but the school could not take me because there was nothing written down to that effect. I was being accused of being a wizard using mubobobo to sexually abuse female teachers. All female teachers in schools that I went to complained about the same issue,” he said.

Mr Ncube said his children were also chased away from Makhasane Primary School.

“None of the schools which include Zinyangeni, Makhasane and Nkuba would have anything to do with me. They even chased away my children from school and the headmaster and teachers at Makhasane vowed that as long as my children are still at school they would not go back there and the headmaster failed to protect me,” he said.

Mr Ncube said he did not report the matter to the police because he was under the impression that the ministry would handle the matter.

In his grounds of appeal, Mr Ncube through his lawyers, M Gwisai and Partners argued that he could not return to Zinyangeni Primary School because he had been verbally transferred from there and feared for his life.

The minister was represented by the Civil Division in the Attorney-General’s Office.

— @mashnets