A BAKERY manager was dismissed for posting a Bible verse on a WhatsApp group amid xenophobic tensions.
Image: FILE
A BAKERY manager was dismissed for posting a Bible verse on a WhatsApp group amid xenophobic tensions.
However, the CCMA later, found that the dismissal of Cloudious Gogo was too harsh and substantially unfair.
The employer who fired him, Erarite Ltd, trading as Khayelitsha SuperSpar, recently turned to the Cape Town Labour Court to have the CCMA’s decision reviewed and overturned.
Gogo was employed as the bakery manager at Khayelitsha SuperSpar, but he was dismissed in July 2022 after it was alleged that he posted content on the WhatsApp status for the company’s management group that was provocative and harmful, quoting the Bible verse of Deuteronomy.
The post read: "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power while you gradually lose yours. They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end, they will be your rulers."
The message was also shared on Gogo’s personal WhatsApp status.
The events leading up to the posts involved the creation of a Facebook group that accused the company of employing foreign nationals for jobs that could have been offered to residents.
The Facebook post listed the names of 23 foreigners employed by the company and called for protest action to shut the SuperSpar down.
In response to the Facebook post, the employer met with the workers' forums and told them that the Facebook group was under investigation, and those involved would be disciplined.
There was also a separate meeting with the foreign nationals, during which they were asked not to exacerbate the situation. At that time, relations within the store were tense.
The Facebook post, meanwhile, caught the attention of the Departments of Labour and Home Affairs. Both departments requested documentation from the employer for the foreign nationals, which was subsequently supplied.
It was during all of this that Gogo posted the offending WhatsApp statuses. When asked about it, Gogo explained that the management WhatsApp group status was a mistake, blaming his phone, which he said would freeze occasionally.
He apologised for the status, which was removed within 10 to 12 minutes. Gogo, however, defended his personal WhatsApp status and said he is free to post whatever he wants on his own status.
At a subsequent disciplinary hearing, Gogo was found guilty and dismissed. He referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA, where he admitted his wrongdoing but argued that a final written warning would have sufficed.
As Gogo did not want to return to work, the CCMA ordered the company to pay him three months' salary.
The company argued that Gogo’s actions were intended to incite unrest as retaliation against the Facebook group.
The post was seen by Gogo’s store manager and his subordinates. Although the post was removed shortly after publication, management at other stores became aware of it.
Gogo’s version was that he was informed of the posting to the management WhatsApp group by the store manager.
He was unaware that the post had exceeded its intended audience. He blamed his phone problems and said he did not do this intentionally. He apologised to all the managers in the management WhatsApp group.
The commissioner found that Gogo had committed misconduct, but he could have been issued a final written warning instead of being fired.
It was found the Bible verse was not hate speech and that Gogo was not trying to incite violence. Judge Tapiwa Gandidze, in turning down the review application, said she cannot fault the CCMA’s reasoning.