TODAY'S COURT ORDER DIRECTING THE REINSTATEMENT OF 38 SANDF RECRUITS WHO WERE UNFAIRLY DISMISSED
PRETORIA, FRIDAY 22 AUGUST 2014
SANDU is delighted at the Pretoria High Court order today directing the Minister of Defence to reinstate 38 SANDF recruits retrospectively to 1 February 2014.
These recruits were part of a group of 93 who were sent home by the SANDF in February 2014, despite having been selected, contracted and had already started their basic training.
The SANDF refused to provide any reasons for the termination of their services to either the recruits or SANDU, which then prompted this legal action.
The SANDF had no lawful process or reason to terminate the services of these recruits. It is also highly suspicious that, after sending them home, busloads of new replacements arrived at the same bases, even though basic training had already commenced three weeks earlier.
The effect of the court order obtained is that the SANDF will have to pay these recruits retrospectively and until they have completed their 2 year service periods. Effectively this means that the SANDF, due to its own bad human resource practices and unlawful conduct, will now have to pay the recruits almost R2m in total back pay for the period spent at home, as well as pay the legal costs of the court action, which is close to R100,000. In addition the transport to return the recruits home, earlier, and to now return them to their respective bases, will also be at the SANDF's cost and amounts to approximately R200,000.
The fact remains that the persons responsible for this unlawful decision should be held accountable.
SANDU demands that a Board of Inquiry be instituted and the results made public.
SANDU is already aware of attempts by SANDF management to trump up charges against middle management officers in this regard, whilst the power and authority for such recall came from the Chief SANDF level.
SANDU calls on all the remaining dismissed recruits to contact the union in order to take the appropriate measures to have them reinstated.
Clearly no SANDF member can afford to be without union protection.
Statement issued by Adv JG (Pikkie) Greeff, SANDU national secretary, August 22 2014
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