A ZIMBABWEAN bakery manager in South Africa, who was fired for posting a biblical verse on WhatsApp, has won a significant legal victory after the Labour Court dismissed his employer’s bid to overturn a ruling that his dismissal was unfair.
Cloudious Gogo, manager at Erarite (Pty) Ltd t/a Khayelitsha SuperSpar, was dismissed in July 2022 after sharing a passage from Deuteronomy on a management group and his personal WhatsApp status at a time of heightened xenophobic tension over foreign nationals working at the supermarket.
The controversial scripture 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 post came amid the creation of a Facebook group that accused the supermarket of employing foreign nationals at the expense of locals.
The group reportedly listed 23 foreign employees and called for protest action, prompting the supermarket to seek police intervention while Labour and Home Affairs departments requested employee documentation.
At the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Gogo admitted posting the message, but argued a final written warning would have been appropriate.
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The commissioner found him guilty of misconduct, but concluded the post did not amount to hate speech and that dismissal was excessive.
Gogo, who did not seek reinstatement, was awarded three months’ compensation.
Erarite took the matter to the Labour Court, arguing that the commissioner failed to appreciate the seriousness of xenophobia and the operational impact of Gogo’s conduct.
But Judge Tapiwa Cecilia Gandidze dismissed the application, ruling that CCMA’s decision was one any reasonable decision-maker could reach.
Judge Gandidze rejected the employer’s argument that the commissioner should have deferred to the company’s dismissal decision, citing the landmark Sidumo and Another vs Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd judgment.
“The commissioner’s sense of fairness is what must prevail and not the employer’s view,” the judgment stated.
The court held that the arbitration award fell within the range of reasonable outcomes and dismissed the review application, with each party ordered to pay its own costs.