Suspended Eastern Cape education department communications director Vuyiseka Mboxela has alleged she is being pushed out of her job to make way for colleagues eyeing higher positions.
Drama unfolded this week when Mboxela announced that she was returning to work, only for the department to deny that her suspension had been lifted.
She was suspended in August alongside education MEC Fundile Gade’s media liaison officer, Velani Mbiza-Gola.
In an interview with KNR radio, which Mboxela shared on social media, she denied the allegations against her, which included bullying and nepotism.
She was responding to a statement from the department earlier on Tuesday in which it rejected her assertion that her suspension had been lifted.
The department said it was confident that it was following proper procedures.
Mboxela, meanwhile, decried what she alleged were discrepancies in the disciplinary process.
She said she was not afforded the opportunity to explain why she should not be suspended and had merely been provided with a suspension letter itemising the charges against her.
“I have done nothing wrong,” she said.
“There is no complaint against me in the department. There is no-one who went to the labour relations office to say ‘I have a grievance against Mboxela’.”
She said she was being portrayed as a troublemaker to benefit certain people within the department.
“Immediately when I got suspended, there were people in the same unit that I’m in who quickly got appointed to be acting in higher positions,” she said.
“It’s a norm and a bit of a trend in the department that once a person wants to ascend to a higher position, there is a young female manager who will be targeted.
“I’m not the first one and I’m not the last one.
“There are many that are going to be targeted.”
Mboxela said people who had the ability “to draw the line” were targeted and she believed she was among them.
“I’m one of those who say, ‘I’m not going to do this because it is against the policy,’” she said.
“When I made the analysis, I could see that this has nothing to do with me as a person.
“And how do I qualify that?
“The person I was suspended with has been brought back to work.
“Because where he is, there is no staff to appoint.
“But, Mboxela, who is in a directorate that has got individuals who must be appointed, must remain at home.
“It’s known that my return will cut short some of the riches that people are expecting to get from the government wrongly,” she alleged.
Mboxela said when she announced she would be returning to work she knew that her suspension had ended in October.
She questioned the decision to extend her suspension, which the department had confirmed.
“Once the suspension has lapsed, it’s an obligation on you to go back to work,” she said.
“If you do not do that, you may be suspended for absconding.
“When I was given the letter of suspension by the chief director, he said ‘if nothing happened after 60 days, come back to work’.”
Mboxela confirmed receiving an email from a lawyer informing her that her suspension had been extended, but she said it had not been copied to anyone in the department and, fearing that no-one would take responsibility, she decided to return to work.
She said she had returned for three days, going to the Zwelitsha and East London offices.
“It was only after that they said, ‘no you are not supposed to be at work’, verbally, not anything written to me,” she said.
“They only went to court today [Tuesday] and sought an interdict.
“Now I’m glad I’m going to stay at home and be paid by the government without working because there is a court order and, therefore, it means I’m protected.”
The department stood by its decision.
“The department did not send her to commit acts of misconduct,” provincial department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said.
“Therefore, this [internal politics] is nothing else but a myth.
“The department, upon receiving allegations and also looking at the nature and gravity of the allegations, reserves the right to suspend an employee precautionarily.
“There is no requirement in law that says you should be given a right to respond to a suspension.
“The issue of audi alteram partem is given to the employee during the tribunal.
“Also, that right is provided during the investigation.”
Daily Dispatch
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