KZN Department of Education ordered to reinstate teacher and pay R410,000 after unfair dismissal.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Basic Education has been ordered to reinstate a teacher and pay him more than R410,000 in back pay after the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found that his dismissal on the grounds of ill health was both substantively and procedurally unfair.
The commissioner ruled in favour of S Sibiya, who challenged the department's decision to terminate his employment after he was declared permanently incapacitated due to ill health.
Sibiya had been employed as an educator by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Basic Education and was dismissed on 16 April 2025 following a process that concluded he was permanently incapable of performing his duties because of health-related issues. The department's decision was reportedly based on concerns raised by his school principal, who had informed the department that Sibiya was medically unfit for duty.
However, Sibiya disputed the process from the outset. He argued that he had never requested to be medically boarded or declared permanently incapacitated and that the process had been imposed on him without his consent. He further maintained that the procedure followed by the department was fundamentally flawed and resulted in his salary payments being stopped.
