A former court clerk, 53, has lost it all after her employer unfairly dismissed her in 2012 and still failed to honour two court orders to reinstate her.
Sophie Jiyana is holding on to two binding court rulings ordering her reinstatement after she was unfairly dismissed by the department of justice from her position as an admin clerk, working at the Pretoria magistrate's court.
She has been without employment for nine years and has since moved into her mother's backroom in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, along with her two adult children. In the process, she lost her five-bedroom home in Pretoria and her car. She now relies on her mother's old-age pension for financial support. Her siblings also chip in.
Jiyana was, according to the findings of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and those of a bargaining council, unfairly dismissed by the department of justice and constitutional development nine years ago after having worked for the department since 1987.
The department has still not reinstated her as per order of the CCMA in 2017, after the general public service sector bargaining council (GPSSBC) also found her dismissal unfair in 2014.
Her axing followed an internal disciplinary hearing which found her guilty of theft and dishonesty. It was alleged that she tried to solicit R9,000 from a client in return for assistance on a case.
She was arrested by the police in 2011 and charged with corruption. The special commercial crimes court in Pretoria found her not guilty of all charges in 2015.
The past nine years without a job have left her depressed and sick.
“I am not well. This unfair dismissal took away everything that I had. I had to move out of my five-bedroom house in Pretoria West because I couldn’t pay the bond anymore. My car was repossessed and I lost my medical aid and life insurance policy,” said Jiyana.
“I couldn’t pay my children’s school fees anymore. Even now I am struggling to feed them. My mother uses her grant to buy food and electricity. I rely on her. I go in and out of the clinic because of the high blood pressure I have developed as a result,” said Jiyana.
“I still want my job back. I want to get what belongs to me as stated in the order.”
In 2014, the GPSSBC ruled that Jiyana’s dismissal was unfair and ordered her to be reinstated to her job.
The GPSSBC’s award letter, which Sowetan has seen, stated: “The respondent [(department of justice] is to re-instate the applicant [Jiyana] in its employ on the same terms and conditions as governed her employment before her dismissal.”
The bargaining council also ordered the department to pay Jiyana a sum of R157,968 from the time she was dismissed until the time the order was handed down.
The CCMA enforced the award on January 31 2017.
In June 2014 the department went to the labour court in Johannesburg to lodge an application for the bargaining council’s ruling to be reviewed and set aside. The matter was set to be heard on July 13 2017, however, on July 10 2017 the labour court issued an order stating that the department had withdrawn its application from the roll.
In July 2019, the department filed papers opposing this order and re-instated its court challenge, therefore keeping Jiyana out of work.
Spokesperson Steve Mahlangu said: “The matter is pending a date to be provided by the registrar of the labour court because all affidavits on behalf of the department have been filed and once a date is provided the parties will be able to attend to the finalisation of the matter.”
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