The Secretary General of BOFEPUSO Ketlhalefile Motshegwa has called on the Ministry of Education and Skills Development to reinstate all the five employees of the Department of Students Placement and Welfare unconditionally as they have been on suspension for close to 10 months now.
“It is very strange that employees can be suspended for such a long time without being called for disciplinary hearing or even charged with the offence they are alleged to have carried out,” he said.
The action of suspending employees for such a long time, Motshwegwa said, is inhuman as the employees do not know what the future holds for them.
Besides he says it is costly in their personal development as they cannot get promoted or further their education as is the case with their colleagues.
The affected employees he further said cannot plan for their future as they are not certain whether they will still be employed the following day.
Even more worrying, he said, is that their right to a trial within a reasonable time has long being forfeited which he said is why they demand that they are reinstated unconditionally.
The five were suspended last year in July on allegations that they had committed some undisclosed offences.
Since then they allege that investigators have not shown much interest in the case whilst they are kept guessing whether or not they will be reinstated.
“We are just in the dark we do not know what tomorrow holds for us,” said one of the suspended employees who declined to be named. The continuing suspension of the officers has been confirmed by the Public Relations officer in the Ministry, Silas Sehularo who says that the officers were suspended in order to give investigators time to investigate the matter.
Two years ago the Ministry’s same Department suspended 15 employees on same allegations of maladministration only to later reinstate all of them after failing charge them with any offence.
