A beauty therapist who was unfairly dismissed from a spa in Johannesburg has won her case at the bargaining council and has since started her own beauty spa.
Precious Munyai last year posted on social media the tense WhatsApp exchanges about her Ters UIF payment between herself and the owner of Aronia Day Spa, Tasneem Patel.
Screengrabs of the tense conversation were posted on Twitter and Facebook. In them, Munyai asks her boss Patel about the Ters benefits as she had not received the funds.
"You [are] being a damn pain. Ask the government,” a response from Patel read. “Where the hell must I get a form from. Stop annoying me. I’m not the government, I’m not UIF … if you message again I’m going to block you,” another message read.
Patel apologised for the messages following social media backlash.
Munyai was dismissed after being told her employment contract was for a 12-month period.
Munyai's lawyer Mark Thompson said she was granted four months' salary as compensation, which she was supposed to receive on January 8. "The award said she was unfairly dismissed and granted compensation," said Thompson.
However, lawyer Sunil Narian said the decision which was granted in December will be appealed by the Aronia Day Spa. "In terms of the LRA (Labour Relations Act), the application must be brought within six weeks of the award being served. That period comes to an end on Friday, 29 January, we will serve and file before then," he said.
Munyai, whose legal battle was paid for by TV and Radio personality Anele Mdoda, has since started her own spa called Precious Beauty Bar, which began operating last August.
"After the whole social media thing, some people donated money to me because I was struggling to make ends meet. I decided to use the money to start buying things to start a spa because people are not hiring right now," she said.
Munyai's beauty spa offers treatments such as waxing, massages, hair styling, nails and sugaring. But because of the pandemic, she only has a few regular customers.
"I'm a mobile spa because most people want to stay at home right now, but I also have a space in Randburg that I can use for people who prefer that," she said.
In the future, Munyai wants to own her own space for her beauty spa and employ other people. "I want to make my business grow in the best way possible and create a brand," she said.
ledwabak@sowetan.co.za
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