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man demands pay 12 years after losing job

UNEMPLOYED: Jim Rabophala demands compensation from his former employer after he won award following his unfair dismissal. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. 02/09/2008. © Sowetan
UNEMPLOYED: Jim Rabophala demands compensation from his former employer after he won award following his unfair dismissal. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. 02/09/2008. © Sowetan

Frank Maponya

Frank Maponya

A Limpopo man is demanding compensation for his services from a Polokwane service station after he was allegedly unfairly dismissed 12 years ago.

He has been without a job since he was fired by the filling station on April 28 1996.

Jim Rabophala, 48, worked for two years as a petrol attendant at the garage. He said he was fired for no apparent reason and was told to leave immediately.

His former employer at Bowers Garage allegedly accused him of being "untidy and unpresentable" while serving his customers.

But instead of telling him to be "presentable and tidy", Lammie Greysel allegedly told him to pack up and go.

Rabophala, a father of two from Mentz village, east of Polokwane, claimed he was fired from his workplace late at night. He had to sleep in an unused shack because he had nowhere to go at the time.

He took the matter up with his union, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa).

When Numsa finally won the case in the Labour Court in Braamfontein, it was discovered that there had been a change in the management of the garage.

The new owner refused to pay Rabophala his dues, claiming he knew nothing about the matter.

According to the Labour Court's award, a copy of which is in Sowetan's possession, Rabophala should receive his dues from the current owner of the filling station because the previous owner is no longer alive. Rabophala is allegedly demanding R24000 in backpay.

"The commissioner who arbitrated found Rabophala's dismissal to be both substantively and procedurally unfair and orders Bowers Garage to pay him compensation in an amount equal to what he [Rabophala] would have earned over a 30 month period," reads the award

The award is dated August 19 2008. It was done in terms of section 194 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.

Rabophala said several attempts to approach Hendrie Botha, the new owner to get payment, had not yielded any positive results. Rabophala said Botha told him that Greysel had no relationship with his business at all.

Botha was yesterday not available for comment.

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