Hofmeyr acted 'improperly', MPs told

According to a report on the News24 site Nomvula Mokhatla told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice: 'The conduct of the employer was unbecoming. It was going to be a very embarrassing situation for the SIU and perhaps for the country at large.' Mokhatla came under fire from the opposition for reinstating senior manager Miseria Nyathi, who was sacked by Hofmeyr for refusing to take a lie detector test in a probe into allegations of misconduct made against her. It was alleged that Nyathi had penned an anonymous letter calling for Hofmeyr's resignation, though this was never proven, and that she had committed time-sheet fraud that amounted to R70 000. Nyathi was reinstated shortly after Hofmeyr's departure, after more than a decade in the job, and was not only given back-pay, but a sizeable performance bonus.

DA MP Dene Smuts asked why Nyathi was given back her job against the advice of the Labour Court and the advice of Advocate Tim Bruinders, who represented the SIU in the case against her. She also asked Mokhatla whether there was any truth in allegations that in fact the letter demanding Hofmeyr step down had been written by herself on her daughter Cora's computer. Mokhatla responded: 'There has not been any finding that there is any letter that comes from a computer of a daughter.' She said the allegations of fraud against Nyathi had not been proven, and that she did not consider Bruinders' advice a formal legal opinion. The court ruling held that Nyathi's refusal to sit a polygraph test was a breach of her contract. ANC MP John Jeffery came to Mokhatla's defence, pointing out that the court had merely said Nyathi could be dismissed, but did not order that it be done. Full report on the News24 site

Hofmeyr referred Die Burger to a judgment of the Labour Court which found Nyathi had breached her contract - grounds for dismissal - when asked to comment on the issue. The report notes Mokhatla told the committee the question that needed to be answered was why Nyathi had to undergo a lie detector test when there was no evidence of alleged fraud or her involvement in the letter calling for Hofmeyr's head. Jeffery said it 'surprised' him to hear the lie detector test was intended to establish Nyathi's alleged involvement with the letter rather than a crime. He said it seems like the test was 'a personal issue'. Smuts noted in the discussions that the settlement had cost taxpayers about R1m. Full report in Die Burger