SSC not avid about Mulder reinstatement court order

THE Social Security Commission is fighting a Windhoek District Labour Court order that it must reinstate former senior employee Gideon Mulder.

Mulder, who was the SSC’s Manager: Corporate Finance, was dismissed in May 2005 following a disciplinary hearing related to, among others, the SSC’s highly publicised, ill-fated investment of N$30 million with the unproven but politically well-connected Avid Investment Corporation, in 2005. Mulder has accused the SSC of trying to make him the scapegoat for the botched deal.He was supposed to return to work yesterday but had not done so because of the company’s appeal.In December, District Labour Court Chairperson Clement Daniels instructed the SSC to reinstate Mulder because no representative of the SSC was present at court.The SSC’s legal representative, Jefta Tjitemisa, had sent a letter to the court to inform it that he had been booked off by his doctor.Yesterday, Tjitemisa told The Namibian that the SSC had applied to the High Court to set aside the order.The application would be formally heard in the High Court on January 22, he said.In December Magistrate Daniels ordered the SSC to reinstate Mulder on or before January 8.By yesterday, he had not returned to work because of the company’s application to the High Court.SSC spokesperson Rino Muranda confirmed to The Namibian that Mulder had not returned to work, saying further action would be considered only after the January 22 court appearance.Magistrate Daniels earlier ordered the SSC to compensate Mulder for the income he had lost between the date of his dismissal and the date of his reinstatement – but minus the income he had in the meantime received from the job at Trustco Group International that he has since taken up.Daniels said according to what Mulder told the Labour Court, the SSC had failed to comply with the Labour Act when it dismissed him.As a result, the Magistrate stated, the court found that there was no valid and fair reason for Mulder’s dismissal, and the court set aside the findings of a disciplinary hearing that resulted in Mulder being fired.Mulder complained that he was not only wrongly but also unfairly accused and treated in the disciplinary hearing.He claimed that, amongst others, he was denied legal representation, was refused a postponement to give him a chance to get a preferred trade union representative to assist him, was not provided with documentation that he felt he needed to prepare adequately, and at some stage he was even sent out of the hearing while a witness that he had called was giving evidence.He was further denied the right to an internal appeal against the disciplinary panel’s decision, he claimed.At his disciplinary hearing, Mulder faced four charges of gross negligence and gross insubordination, all related to the role that he was alleged to have played in various investments made by the SSC in late 2004 and early 2005.Mulder told the court that the SSC tried to pin the blame on him for the N$30 million with Avid Investment Corporation, set up as an asset management company.In fact, he told the court, he had only investigated that investment possibility and made recommendations on it, but the actual decision was taken by his superiors: then Chief Executive Officer, Tuli Hiveluah, and then General Manager: Finance and Administration, Avril Green.Both Hiveluah and Green also faced disciplinary charges over their role in that investment.Hiveluah resigned before his disciplinary hearing could start, and Green was dismissed after his disciplinary hearing earlier this year.He is still challenging his dismissal.The other three of the charges dealt with decisions to reduce the amount of money that the SSC had invested with the Agricultural Bank of Namibia, Mulder related during the hearing of his case.When that step was decided on, the SSC had invested some N$150 million with Agribank, which was considered to be a risky situation because the bank was struggling financially and had already previously defaulted with repaying part of the money that the SSC had invested with it, Mulder told the court.Eventually, though, after it had been decided to move the SSC’s money away from the bank, most of it was again invested with Agribank – and the SSC then tried to pin the blame for this on him, while he was in fact not responsible for this move, Mulder claimed.Mulder has accused the SSC of trying to make him the scapegoat for the botched deal.He was supposed to return to work yesterday but had not done so because of the company’s appeal.In December, District Labour Court Chairperson Clement Daniels instructed the SSC to reinstate Mulder because no representative of the SSC was present at court.The SSC’s legal representative, Jefta Tjitemisa, had sent a letter to the court to inform it that he had been booked off by his doctor.Yesterday, Tjitemisa told The Namibian that the SSC had applied to the High Court to set aside the order.The application would be formally heard in the High Court on January 22, he said.In December Magistrate Daniels ordered the SSC to reinstate Mulder on or before January 8.By yesterday, he had not returned to work because of the company’s application to the High Court.SSC spokesperson Rino Muranda confirmed to The Namibian that Mulder had not returned to work, saying further action would be considered only after the January 22 court appearance.Magistrate Daniels earlier ordered the SSC to compensate Mulder for the income he had lost between the date of his dismissal and the date of his reinstatement – but minus the income he had in the meantime received from the job at Trustco Group International that he has since taken up. Daniels said according to what Mulder told the Labour Court, the SSC had failed to comply with the Labour Act when it dismissed him.As a result, the Magistrate stated, the court found that there was no valid and fair reason for Mulder’s dismissal, and the court set aside the findings of a disciplinary hearing that resulted in Mulder being fired.Mulder complained that he was not only wrongly but also unfairly accused and treated in the disciplinary hearing.He claimed that, amongst others, he was denied legal representation, was refused a postponement to give him a chance to get a preferred trade union representative to assist him, was not provided with documentation that he felt he needed to prepare adequately, and at some stage he was even sent out of the hearing while a witness that he had called was giving evidence.He was further denied the right to an internal appeal against the disciplinary panel’s decision, he claimed.At his disciplinary hearing, Mulder faced four charges of gross negligence and gross insubordination, all related to the role that he was alleged to have played in various investments made by the SSC in late 2004 and early 2005.Mulder told the court that the SSC tried to pin the blame on him for the N$30 million with Avid Investment Corporation, set up as an asset management company.In fact, he told the court, he had only investigated that investment possibility and made recommendations on it, but the actual decision was taken by his superiors: then Chief Executive Officer, Tuli Hiveluah, and then General Manager: Finance and Administration, Avril Green.Both Hiveluah and Green also faced disciplinary charges over their role in that investment.Hiveluah resigned before his disciplinary hearing could start, and Green was dismissed after his disciplinary hearing earlier this year.He is still challenging his dismissal.The other three of the charges dealt with decisions to reduce the amount of money that the SSC had invested with the Agricultural Bank of Namibia, Mulder related during the hearing of his case.When that step was decided on, the SSC had invested some N$150 million with Agribank, which was considered to be a risky situation because the bank was struggling financially and had already previously defaulted with repaying part of the money that the SSC had invested with it, Mulder told the court.Eventually, though, after it had been decided to move the SSC’s money away from the bank, most of it was again invested with Agribank – and the SSC then tried to pin the blame for this on him, while he was in fact not responsible for this move, Mulder claimed.