Eastern Cape Education faces lawsuit from retired teacher over leave gratuity
Image: Bheki Radebe/African News Agency (ANA)
A retired teacher is embroiled in a legal battle with the Eastern Cape Department of Education, claiming R198,608 in unpaid leave gratuity following her retirement in 2020.
The former teacher, Thandile Mposelwa, is suing the department and MEC Fundile Gade for leave gratuity money that she was allegedly short-paid upon her retirement in 2020.
She claimed that the department owed her R198,608.06 after receiving an amount of R25,369,25 from her leave credits of R223,978,23.
However, the Deaprtment of Education in the Eastern Cape said the leave credits were audited and an amount of R46,782,57 became payable to her.
Mposelwa has been working for the department since 1988.
She was promoted as a principal at Thembalethu Junior Secondary School in 1992.
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In 2010, she was transferred to a deputy principal post at Sterkspruit Junior Secondary School, where she worked until her retirement in 2020.
She argued that in terms of the policy, permanent and fixed-term contract employees were entitled to the cash value of any unused annual leave credits in respect of their annual leave cycle.
Mposelwa, who was in her final year to complete a Bachelor of Arts Degree, said her study leave was approved from March 1, 1996, to December 31, 1996.
Mposelwa stated that following her retirement, an amount of R25,369,65 was paid into her FNB account in January 2021 and this payment fell short of what she was entitled to receive in terms of the department's policy, especially for the days she accrued while she was still employed.
She said the money did not correlate with the amount of R223,978,23, which is recorded as the money paid to her.
'Prior to July 1, 2000, employees in the public service were allowed to utilise their accumulated leave working backward if they had accumulated enough leave credits. This was the case when the plaintiff (Mposelwa) took study leave in 1996 to complete her studies,' read the court papers.
Mposelwa said the amount paid was inconsistent with the calculation of her leave gratuity credits.
The Zwelitsha Magistrate Court is expected to hand down a default judgment on May 23, 2025, after Mposelwa applied for an exception judgment last year.
The basis of her exception application was that the department's plea was vague, embarrassing and lacked averments to sustain a defence.
The department was granted leave to amend its plea within 15 days.
Mposelwa's nephew, Bandile Magibili, said at the lapse of 15 days, the department decided to serve Mposelwa's legal representatives with a purported amended plea. He said when Mposelwa's representatives considered the plea, it was established that the department intended to file the same plea that was subject to the exception judgment.
'In other words, they wanted to file a replica of the plea that was set aside by the court. It is on this basis that the representatives objected to the purported amended plea by way of making an application for summary judgment,' he said.
A summary judgment is a procedural mechanism that allows a court to decide a case without a full trial when there is no genuine dispute about the key facts. Essentially, it is a way to expedite a case when it is clear that the defendant has no viable defence.
Magibili said the summary judgment application sat before the court on July 16, 2024, but could not proceed as the department served Mposelwa's lawyers with a defective answering affidavit.
'They served the representatives with a notice of filing and annexures to the affidavit, without the affidavit itself. The matter was therefore postponed to August 13, 2024, for the department to file a proper affidavit in court and serve the representatives with the same, in order for the matter to be argued on August 13, 2024 and the Department is now bringing an Application to file an amended Plea.'
'Through the advice of the representatives of the plaintiff we opposed this application and that it be heard on the same day as the summary judgment, August 13, 2024. Sadly, due to technical glitches in the recording devices at court, the matter could not proceed and was postponed to October 8, 2024.
The basis for our inclination to oppose this application to amend is that the department is insisting that their purported amended plea is the same as the one that was set aside by the court in the exception judgment,' said Magibili.
Asked for a comment, Eastern Cape Education spokesperson Mboxela Ceduma said the department can only talk on a judgment that would have been served to them, adding that: 'For now we wait for the court to announce its view.'
In a letter issued to Mposelwa on September 18, 2024, the Eastern Cape education department said the human resources (HR) confirmed that the recalculation was done correctly at the time of the first court application and documentation to that effect was furnished. The department added that HR further confirmed that all moneys due to Mposelwa were paid to her.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za
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