Judgment in Solidarity case against police

The Labour Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday (22/04/2014) ordered the police to redeploy a colonel to a similar position and to compensate him in an unfair labour practice case.

The court heard the case, which was brought by trade union Solidarity on behalf of its member, Colonel Kobus Roos, in February.

"The respondents [SA Police Service] must pay Roos compensation under s194 (4) of the LRA in the amount of R156250... within 14 days of the date of this judgment," the court found.

Solidarity said the SAPS conceded before the court that it had acted unfairly against Roos, and that he was entitled to be placed in a position similar to the one he had previously occupied.

It said Roos was transferred to another position by former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, after Roos uncovered corruption in the unit.

Roos had previously acted as head of internal audit, and the Labour Court ordered that he be redeployed to that unit.

According to the union, Mdluli had appointed Roos to investigate the account.

Roos uncovered "wide-ranging" corruption in the unit, and had disclosed allegations and proof of corruption in a protected disclosure.

Mdluli then stopped the investigation and subsequently transferred Roos to the inspectorate and evaluation division of the unit, which the union said was redundant.

Solidarity spokesman Johan Kruger said they were satisfied with the judgment.

"We are, however, pleased that Roos can now continue his work in crime intelligence after he had been transferred to a post which left him idle," he said in a statement.

"Roos was marginalised simply because he was good at his job and exposed corruption."

The SAPS was also ordered to pay Roos's legal costs. - Sapa