Cape Town – An official from the home affairs department, accused of “serious misconduct” due to a diplomatic travel mishap that caused a delay in a delegation led by President Cyril Ramaphosa during their visit to Zimbabwe, was reportedly unable to convince the labor court that he should not be recalled to address the issue.
According to Times Live, Castro Mlaba was responsible for travel arrangements and diplomatic processing of South African dignitaries in Zimbabwe.
The incident occurred on September 4, when Ramaphosa attended the inauguration of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mlaba’s failure to ensure the smooth processing of travel documents and timely departure led to a delay of over an hour at Harare International Airport, affecting the departure of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo as well.
“As far the department was concerned, this failure … constituted serious misconduct and brought the Republic of South Africa into disrepute,” the report quoted a ruling handed down by the Johannesburg labour court as saying.
Mlaba initially expressed embarrassment and remorse for the incident but later took a more defensive stance when the department rejected his representations and demanded his return to South Africa to face a disciplinary hearing.
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He sought relief from the Johannesburg Labour Court, urgently requesting an interdict to prevent Home Affairs from revoking his diplomatic accreditation until his contract concluded in December, IOL reported.
Additionally, he sought an order stipulating that any disciplinary hearing, if pursued by the department, should take place in Zimbabwe.
But acting Judge S Snyman rejected Mlaba’s application, asserting that the court lacked jurisdiction to address matters related to diplomatic accreditation. The judge said that Mlaba had alternative avenues available to address his concerns.
The judge also expressed strong disapproval for senior officials who resorted to court as an urgent measure to safeguard their employment positions.
“These employees, who are highly remunerated and can thus afford it, often rush off to this court on the back of clever lawyering to try and secure an advantage over all the other thousands of litigants that patiently wait in the queue to have their cases of termination of employment or unfair labour practice disputes decided,” the report quoted Snyman as saying.
When the incident occurred, Mlaba had secured an extension for his assignment in Harare, originally set to end in March, to continue until the end of December, the report said.
This extension was granted because his son was attending school there. As a result, he is reluctant to return to South Africa at this point and believes it is unfair to subject him to disciplinary proceedings there.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
