Ex-worker’s double job ends in R2.9m court bill - TimesLIVE

For almost two years a former university employee drew two salaries while moonlighting as chief information officer at the V&A Waterfront, raking in more than R1m.

The V&A Waterfront and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) did not know that Sibongiseni Thotsejane was employed by the other as she secretly juggled the two jobs.

However, Thotsejane’s luck eventually ran out, and on Friday the labour court in Cape Town ordered her to pay nearly R2.9m to the V&A after finding that she had failed to provide a truthful account of her previous employment.

Thotsejane has won several awards in the science, technology and innovation and is the previous winner of the Distinguished Young Woman Researchers: Research and Innovation award hosted by the Department of Science and Innovation. In 2019 she was appointed as one of the commissioners for the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

In October 2015 Thotsejane was appointed as the V&A’s chief information officer while she was still employed by the CPUT, where she had been a co-ordinator since August 2014 and earned an annual remuneration package of R606,374.96.

During the court proceedings, former acting dean of the CPUT’s business and management faculty, W Lotter, testified that Thotsejane’s absenteeism had become so severe that he instructed her to report to him daily in the dean’s office so her attendance could be monitored.

According to Lotter, Thotsejane failed to comply with the instruction.

Her employment at the V&A was also characterised by late arrivals, missed meetings, high absenteeism and the submission of numerous medical certificates.

Judge Robert Gerald found that Thotsejane had also misrepresented her departure from Engen, claiming that she had left because of “political challenges” and an ongoing merger.

“When she had actually been dismissed for gross misconduct, as confirmed in an arbitration award,” Gerald said.

Before joining the V&A, Thotsejane also had a high court judgment against her in favour of Engen. The judgment, dated July 29 2014, related to vehicle finance amounting to R503,786.

When the V&A’s ITC checks uncovered the judgment, Thotsejane told the company that the debt had been incurred in her name by her former husband and that she was working with her attorney to resolve the matter.

Her employment history also came under scrutiny when she claimed in her application that she had left Old Mutual after being headhunted.

An investigation instead found that she had been dismissed after a disciplinary inquiry into multiple misconduct allegations, including insubordination, unlawful possession of property, unauthorised absence from work and breaches of company policies and procedures.

Old Mutual provided the V&A with documentation supporting the findings, including the disciplinary proceedings and their outcome. Thotsejane subsequently referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which was later settled. The documents also recorded her surname at the time as “Dakela”.

Thotsejane similarly stated on her CV that she had resigned from Acceleration eMarketing for “career development”.

However, an arbitration award obtained by the V&A found that she had been dismissed for incapacity after missing training sessions, being absent from work without a valid reason, failing to meet deadlines and producing substandard work.

Thosetsejane’s shenanigans were discovered in her V&A-issued laptop. She would call in sick while engaging in CPUT work and consulting duties for her private company, FlavaLite Innovations. She also used the laptop to compile mixtapes for her DJ business, among other things.

When the V&A confronted her about her CPUT job, Thosetsejane produced a backdated resignation letter which Lotter confirmed to be fake.

When she was being hired by the V&A, she produced a fake counter-offer letter with an exaggerated salary, including housing and car allowance from the CPUT. Lotter said the letter was also fake.

The V&A had approached the labour court seeking damages, including R1.03m in salary paid to Thotsejane and costs linked to her conduct.

The court heard that she appointed IT consultants ProfTiko Iyamu and Nokubela Mchunu through EOH MC Solutions, allegedly breaching her duties to act in good faith, avoid conflicts of interest and follow procurement policies.

The V&A paid EOH R1.4m for Iyamu’s services and R464,000 for Mchunu’s remuneration.

Delivering his judgment, Gerald said the evidence led to the “ineluctable conclusion” that Thotsejane had been employed on the strength of her qualifications and previous employment history.

He said the V&A would never have employed her had it known the truth about her employment history.

Therefore, “Thotsejane must pay the applicant damages in the amount of R1,031,237.46 in respect of her fraudulent misrepresentations which caused the applicant to employ her.

“Thotsejane must pay the applicant damages in the amounts of R1,402,005.00 and R464,000.00 for the damages suffered by it arising from the engagement of Professor Tiko Iyamu and Ms Nokubela Mchunu, respectively.”