Labour Court confirms dismissal of senior correctional officer for sending money to inmate's account.
The Labour Court has upheld the dismissal of a senior correctional officer who deposited money into an inmate's bank account, finding that his actions amounted to prohibited pecuniary dealings under the Correctional Services Act.
Acting Judge Pieter Venter refused to review and set aside an arbitration award issued under the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council (GPSSBC), which had deemed the officer's termination substantively fair.
The employee, who had served in the Department of Correctional Services since March 1997, held the position of Head of the Emergency Support Team at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre in the Western Cape. He was dismissed in November 2019 following an internal disciplinary hearing triggered by three specific charges.
Two of the charges alleged that, in October and November 2018, the officer deposited R500 into the bank account of inmate Janick Adonis on each occasion. A third charge claimed he unlawfully removed the same inmate from Pollsmoor Medium A Correctional Centre to the Area Commissioner's office and guest house between June 2018 and January 2019 without proper authority.
