Home | News | SEC MANAGER FACES DC FOR FATAL MOTSHANE ACCIDENT

SEC MANAGER FACES DC FOR FATAL MOTSHANE ACCIDENT

Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

MBABANE – A manager of SEC has been taken to a disciplinary hearing following the death of eight people in the accident which involved the company’s truck and kombi along Motshane- Pigg’s Peak Road.


SEC is an acronym for Swaziland Electricity Company.
Ephraim Madoda Kunene, who is the company’s Commercial Manager has been slapped with a charge of gross negligence/recklessness.
Kunene is accused of having failed to act on a request to approve the removal of Mbuso Zwane (Heavy duty driving) from driving duties on grounds of health and safety.


“By so doing, you failed to exercise reasonable care in performing your duties as a manager.
“Your disregard for duty to care resulted in the accident, which involved an SEC truck (OSD 004BM) and a kombi along Motshane-Pigg’s Peak Road which was driven by Mbuso Zwane and claimed eight lives and cost the company about E120 000 excluding cost of the truck,” reads part of Kunene’s charge.


The company alleged that it was incumbent upon Kunene to authorise the removal of Zwane from driving duties on grounds of health and safety as per a request for approval sent to him by Lwazi Dlamini (Inventory Controller).


According to the charge sheet, Kunene failed to action the request for approval.
Kunene has since filed an application in the Industrial Court where he is seeking an order for the removal of the chairperson of his disciplinary hearing.


The disciplinary hearing is chaired by lawyer Banele Gamedze of Musa M Sibandze Attorneys.
Kunene decided to seek legal recourse after Gamedze refused to recuse himself from chairing his disciplinary hearing.
In his application which has been filed under a certificate of urgency, Kunene averred that there was a clear and reasonable perception of bias arising from the fact that Gamedze and his firm of attorneys, Musa M Sibandze, were attorney and legal advisors of SEC.


He contended that as such, Gamedze could not be fairly and truly independent in chairing the hearing.
“Gamedze is perpetrating an unfair labour practice against me in that he insists on chairing my hearing yet he is clearly conflicted as he is an attorney and legal advisor of SEC,” submitted Kunene.


He argued that the Industrial Court was empowered to intervene in the incomplete disciplinary proceedings to correct the alleged unfair labour practice and to ensure that he was afforded a fair disciplinary hearing.

 

Comments (0 posted):

Post your comment comment

Please enter the code you see in the image: