The Mpumalanga department of agriculture, rural development, land and environmental affairs has come under fire after it was ordered to pay R21-million to two employees it dismissed in 2009.
The payout, enforced by the Labour Court, includes full retrospective salaries for 15 years.
The court found the dismissals to be “both procedurally and substantively unfair”. It ordered that the officials be reinstated and compensated from 2009 to 2024.
The department confirmed the cost in a recent report tabled before the provincial legislature.
“The cost of the reinstatement is R21-million,” the report states. “The payment was drawn from the compensation of employees allocation.”
Symptom of a broken system
While the department insists that the payment will not affect service delivery, the political fallout is growing.
The DA in the provincial legislature has slammed the delay in resolving the matter, describing it as a symptom of a broken system.
“At most, it should not take longer than three calendar months to resolve a case of a suspended or fired public service employee,” said DA legislator Tersia Marshall.
“Taxpayers should not be expected to subsidise a flawed and expensive administrative system that adds no value to service delivery.”
Marshall called on the provincial department of public service and administration to impose a cap on how long labour disputes may drag on.
The R21 million payout, however, is only the beginning of the financial damage.
R39.5m spent on legal fees
The same report reveals that the department spent a shocking R39.5-million in legal fees during the 2024/25 financial year.
Between October 2024 and March 2025, an additional R1.5-million was paid to lawyers.
These legal costs stem from multiple cases, some still pending. They include four labour matters with potential liabilities.
One of these cases is an R8.6-million claim by a former political appointee who was dismissed after a cabinet reshuffle.
There are also three civil suits, including an R2.4-million claim linked to the destruction of layer hens and eggs during a suspected avian flu outbreak. Another case involves an R4.5-million breach of contract.
The financial recklessness is happening while the department struggles to meet its core mandate. More than 1 000 posts remain vacant.
According to Marshall, millions of rands meant for farmer support and drought relief are being poured into legal sinks. “This is a textbook example of institutional negligence,” according to Marshall.
