Back to square one in SSC vs Mulder case

FORMER Social Security Commission manager Gideon Mulder and the SSC are back where their District Labour Court dispute started off more than three months ago, before a default judgement was granted ordering the SSC to reinstate Mulder.

The case between Mulder and the SSC is back at square one after it made a return to the Windhoek District Labour Court on Monday this week. With the return of the case to court, the victory that Mulder tasted against the SSC on December 15 last year, when District Labour Court Chairperson Clement Daniels granted him a default judgement in which the SSC was ordered to reinstate him in the post at the SSC from which he was dismissed on May 20 2005, was reversed again.Magistrate Daniels on Monday granted the SSC its application to have the default judgement that had been given against the parastatal in the absence of its legal practitioners rescinded.This means that the case that Mulder lodged against the SSC for allegedly having been unfairly dismissed from his post as Manager: Corporate Finance, will have to return to court on a future date, still to be arranged, for a full hearing of evidence from both sides of the matter if Mulder wants to continue with his labour complaint against his former employers.The next move in the matter was the SSC’s.The parastatal filed an application to have that judgement set aside.In its application, it claimed it had a proper defence against Mulder’s complaint, and that it was not wilfully in default of appearing for the scheduled start of the hearing on December 12.Mulder was one of the senior employees of the SSC who were casualties of the fall-out that followed on the disastrous investment of N$30 million by the SSC through an unproven asset management company, Avid Investment Corporation, in early 2005.With the return of the case to court, the victory that Mulder tasted against the SSC on December 15 last year, when District Labour Court Chairperson Clement Daniels granted him a default judgement in which the SSC was ordered to reinstate him in the post at the SSC from which he was dismissed on May 20 2005, was reversed again.Magistrate Daniels on Monday granted the SSC its application to have the default judgement that had been given against the parastatal in the absence of its legal practitioners rescinded.This means that the case that Mulder lodged against the SSC for allegedly having been unfairly dismissed from his post as Manager: Corporate Finance, will have to return to court on a future date, still to be arranged, for a full hearing of evidence from both sides of the matter if Mulder wants to continue with his labour complaint against his former employers.The next move in the matter was the SSC’s.The parastatal filed an application to have that judgement set aside.In its application, it claimed it had a proper defence against Mulder’s complaint, and that it was not wilfully in default of appearing for the scheduled start of the hearing on December 12.Mulder was one of the senior employees of the SSC who were casualties of the fall-out that followed on the disastrous investment of N$30 million by the SSC through an unproven asset management company, Avid Investment Corporation, in early 2005.