Teen rape conviction comes back to lash security guard

Thandabantu Ntloko’s first court experience was as a 17-year-old in 1982‚ when he was sentenced to six lashes for rape.

That conviction — and another for assault in 1991 came back to bite him — at his most recent court experience‚ when three appeal judges in Cape Town confirmed his sacking by G4S Secure Solutions.

A criminal record check when Ntloko applied for a promotion after 14 years’ service exposed his convictions‚ which he had lied about when he was employed in 1996.

He was fired but the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration ordered his reinstatement‚ saying G4S had acted “caustically“. The Labour Court agreed with the finding but the Labour Appeal Court bench saw things differently.

“A conviction rape and assault is antithetical to employment in the position of a security guiard‚” they said.

“When confronted with evidence of his misconduct‚ (Ntloko) did not express any remorse but blamed his dishonesty first on his lack of knowledge that his offences amounted to convictions and then later on his belief that after 1994 his criminal record no longer existed.