Precautionary suspension in the public service : reflections from South Africa

Abstract

The study will analyse the fairness or unfairness of precautionary suspensions and the rights of employees in the Public Service who are placed on precautionary suspensions with reference to section 23(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which states that: (1) “ Everyone has the right to fair labour practices” Section 186(2)(b) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 defines what an unfair labour practice is with specific reference to a precautionary suspension. It reads thus: (2) “ Unfair labour practice means any unfair act or omission that arises between an employer and an employee involving – (b) the unfair suspension of an employee or any other unfair disciplinary action short of dismissal in respect of an employee” The study will also look at circumstances under which precautionary suspension is invoked on Senior Management Service employees in the public service in terms of chapter 7, clause .2.7(2) of the Senior Management Service Handbook, 2003. Decided cases will be referred to which shows that one of the reasons why many precautionary suspensions are set aside when challenged in court, is because some employees who are assigned to deal with labour issues in the government departments are not competent to deal with those issues. The issue of political appointments impacts directly on service delivery if people are appointed to positions because of political affiliation than competency.