Emeka Nwandiko
Black employees at Gauteng’s Department of Finance have rallied around a white colleague who was dismissed for making a racist remark, saying her sacking was “apartheid in reverse”.
Bets Enslin was dismissed last Friday after she was brought before a disciplinary tribunal for an incident last December. It is alleged that Enslin jokingly called a training officer, Isaac Netshivhungululu, a “baboon”.
Said Netshivhungululu: “I was inquiring about a cheque. Our conversation started off in English. She said to hold on while she checked.”
He said when she returned to the phone, she spoke Afrikaans: “I indicated to her that I do not understand. She said, `Jy is ‘n bobbejaan [You are a baboon].’ I said that was insulting. She said, `If you can’t take jokes it’s up to you.’
Netshivhungululu lodged a complaint with the department’s internal labour relations tribunal.
But black employees at the department, who refused to be named as they are not allowed to speak to the media, have expressed alarm over her sacking. One said: “There is racial tension already. Even as a black person I feel it is unfair. It is apartheid in reverse.”
Black colleagues feel that, as it was her first offence, she should have been warned, not sacked. Said one close colleague: “She has been working for the department for 18 years. She doesn’t have a race problem. She is on good terms with all her colleagues … be they black, yellow or white.”
The incident comes as a Bill is being drafted by the Human Rights Commission that will outlaw racist remarks and other forms of discrimination. It is expected to become law next February.
Despite several requests to the department and its Director General, Lulamile Mbete, for comment, there was no response.
On Wednesday Enslin lodged an appeal against her sacking. She did not want to comment.