PS LOSES RETIREMENT CASE, FILES URGENT APPEAL
MBABANE – Sipho Tsabedze, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, has lost his legal battle to postpone his retirement. The Industrial Court ruled that his retirement date was yesterday, February 3, 2025, despite his claim that he should retire in 2027. Tsabedze’s case hinged on disputed birth dates. While he initially provided a date of February 3, 1965, upon joining the civil service in 1988, he later claimed his actual birth date was November 27, 1967. He corrected his birth certificate in 2021 and his government employment records in 2022, citing information received from his mother in 1998. This change would have pushed his retirement to November 2027.
However, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) investigated the change and found a confusing array of birth dates in Tsabedze’s records, including February 3, 1964, and January 1, 1963, in addition to the contested 1965 and 1967 dates. The CSC ultimately determined that the original date of birth provided in 1988 should stand, setting his retirement for yesterday. Tsabedze challenged the CSC’s decision, arguing they lacked the authority to review the change to his birth date and that their investigation was unreasonably delayed and unfair. He claimed the change was authorised under General Order 9(2).
The court, however, sided with the CSC. Judge Abande Dlamini, presiding over the case, found that the CSC had the authority to review the change, especially as the initial change was made by Tsabedze’s subordinate, creating a conflict of interest. The court also dismissed the claims of unreasonable delay and unfair process, noting that Tsabedze had been given an opportunity to explain the discrepancies in his birth records. The judgment highlighted Tsabedze’s lengthy delay in correcting his birth date, raising questions about the timing of the changes. It also pointed out that Tsabedze had not exhausted other options offered by the CSC, such as presenting exceptional circumstances for a later retirement date or seeking post-retirement employment.
The court concluded that Tsabedze’s case lacked merit and dismissed his application. The ruling confirms his retirement date as February 3, 2025. Just hours after a judgment concerning his position was delivered, Tsabedze filed an urgent application seeking a stay of execution on the ruling. Tsabedze is appealing a recent decision that dismissed his application to overturn a ruling by the Civil Service Commission. The commission had previously determined that his last day of employment would be February 3, 2025. In his appeal, Tsabedze contends that the Industrial Court erred in its dismissal of his application and is asking the Industrial Court of Appeal to intervene.
The urgent application seeks to put a hold on the implementation of the dismissal ruling while the appeal process is underway. The outcome of this legal challenge will determine Tsabedze’s future in the Ministry of Public Service. Yesterday, Musa Sibandze of Musa M. Sibandze Attorneys, who represents the PS, told Judge President of the Industrial Court of Appeal, Sifiso Nsibande, that he was unsuccessful in serving the attorney general – the attorneys seized with the matter – with the application for a stay of execution of the ruling that was made by Judge Abande Dlamini around 11am on the same day. The judge president noted that the termination of Tsabedze’s services was not due to being dismissed but allegedly as a result of having reached the retirement age. As per the ruling of the CSC, he was supposed to retire yesterday.
Principal Crown Siboniso Hlawe appeared for the CSC and other respondents in the matter together with Ncaba Motsa. Sibandze told the court that the retirement was supposed to take effect at midnight. However, Judge Nsibande said it did not matter when the matter is heard if the date of retirement is found to be incorrect. The judge president said Sibandze could still serve the attorney general with the application and the matter be heard in due course. The court went on to remove the application, pending service to the attorney general and it will then be set down for hearing by the same court.
Among those who were present at the Industrial Court when the judgment was delivered were Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa Dlamini and Secretary General Lot Vilakati and other members of the association. Former NAPSAWU President Oscar Nkambule was also present in court. Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of Swaziland Secretary General Mduduzi Gina said if Tsabedze has to retire, he must do so, and if he has to stay, let it be. Gina said as the union, they are hoping that justice will prevail in order for the matter to be put to rest. He said after all has been said and done, the court is better positioned to deliberate on the issue and come up with a proper verdict. He said it was for the court to decide the matter accordingly based on the adduced evidence.
Post your comment 





Comments (0 posted):