Shoprite employees cry foul over dismissals

RETAIL giant Shoprite has come under fire for alleged unfair dismissal of employees at its Ongwediva branch.

In one case, an employee was shown the door after he was accused of dishonesty and removal of company property without management authorisation when a ball he was playing with inside the store suddenly disappeared.

It is alleged that on February 11, Josef Ntinda took a ball from the table at the staff entrance where it was kept for cancellation.

He allegedly threw the ball at a colleague and the colleague alternatively kicked the ball to another colleague after which the ball disappeared.

According to Ntinda, when he knocked off, the security guards at the door vigorously searched him as is compulsory when for employees who leave the shop, but they did not find the ball on either him or on any of his colleagues.

The company claims that although it does not have evidence that he stole the ball, he committed a major offense that warrants dismissal by removing property without management authorisation.

During a disciplinary hearing chaired by Helena Shigwedha on February 29, Ntinda was found guilty on both charges and his services were terminated with immediate effect.

It was also not stated how anywhere in documents how much the plastic ball, but employees say it did not cost more than N$20.

Two months after Ntinda’s dismissal, another employee at the Ongwediva store suffered a similar fate when he was allegedly unfairly dismissed.

Oiva Abraham was given his marching orders on April 3 after the retailer accused him of dishonesty and theft involving beef tripe he had spiced before buying it for N$23.

In documents submitted to Namibian Sun, the company said by using spices from the company to flavour the beef tripe, Abraham had committed a major offense that warrants dismissal.

Documents signed by the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing, Sinvula Christopher, never mentioned how much the spice Abraham had used from the company’s kitchen cost.

At the hearing on April 26 on fraud and dishonesty, the disciplinary committee found Abraham guilty and dismissed him with immediate effect, stating that the ‘company suffered’ and that his actions ‘put the company into a serious picture’.

Namibian Sun understands that Abraham was given his job back after he managed to successfully appeal.

Attempts to get comment from Shoprite proved futile as their phone continued to go unanswered until in the late afternoon.