Ex-fire chief wins case against dismissal
2012-02-07 09:43
Johannesburg - A former Limpopo fire chief has won a lengthy court battle against his dismissal, according to a report on Tuesday.
The Constitutional Court unanimously ruled in his favour on Monday after he was fired in 2004, reported Beeld newspaper.
Jakobus Visser was appointed as the Mopani district's fire chief in 2003, and initially given a travel allowance because he had to commute between Tzaneen and Giyani.
The travel allowance was suspended after a few months, but because Visser was not prepared to travel at his own expense, he reported for duty at the Tzaneen office, instead of the Giyani office.
The municipality fired him in 2004, stating that Visser had abandoned his post without the necessary authority.
Visser took his battle to the labour court and the appeals court, managing each time to get a wrongful dismissal verdict.
The appeal court ordered the Mopani Municipality to reappoint Visser, and to pay him the salary owed to him since 2004.
The municipality lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court, but the bid was on Monday rejected unanimously by a full bench of judges.
Visser's lawyer, Len Dekker, said on Tuesday that the sum total of his client's salary amounted to R3.5m, excluding interest and legal costs dating back to 2004, which could add another R500 000.
- SAPA
