“He is not happy because he is nearing his retirement next year and his current circumstances have created difficulties for him.”
|||Durban - Facing a bill of close to R1 million for a disciplinary hearing to test allegations of racism against a professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal vice-chancellor Malegapuru Makgoba chose to fire the academic halfway through the process.
And although Professor Anunathan Reddi, who headed the university’s cardiothoracic department and was head of the cardiothoracic unit at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, cried foul, saying this was grossly unfair, the Durban Labour Court ruled against him this week.
Reddi argued that he had not been given the opportunity to have his say.
He said he wanted to vindicate himself and “retire with dignity”.
But his urgent court bid to overturn his dismissal and to order the university to continue with his disciplinary hearing or hold an appeal, was dismissed with costs by Labour Court Acting Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje.
The judge found that Reddi's case was not urgent and he had not exhausted all the options available, including going ahead with the disciplinary appeal or lodging a dispute with the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
He said Reddi had “abused the court process” and wanted to force the “court’s hand” to compel the university to do his bidding.
“The applicant’s conduct of rejecting the option of an appeal was unreasonable,” Judge Tlhotlhalemaje said.
“The contention that the appeal process would have been a farce was clearly presumptuous.”
The judge said Reddi had been fired in June after Makgoba decided the professor was abusing the disciplinary process.
Makgoba said in court papers that some witnesses had been cross-examined for five days by Reddi’s lawyer.
The costs of the hearing had exceeded R600 000, excluding R59 000 “for catering and transcription”.
He anticipated that R300 000 more would be spent on further dates, Makgoba said.
The testimony of the eighth witness was being heard, with four more yet to give evidence.
Reddi’s lawyer, Jay Reddy, said on Thursday that his client was disappointed with the outcome of the case.
“He is not happy because he is nearing his retirement next year and his current circumstances have created difficulties for him.”
They had yet to decide whether to appeal against the ruling, Reddy said.
Reddi was accused of misconduct by fellow doctors Ebrahim Mansoor, Direndra Rajaruthnam, Kaven Naicker, Gerard Alexander, Julian Buckels and Surendra Naidoo.
The allegations were that he made racist, derogatory, abusive and sexist remarks, was abusive and intimidating to staff and had victimised and harassed employees.
The doctors said Reddi had used the “k-word” and referred to Muslims as “Slumous”.
Reddi was also accused of making remarks that some Indians had not evolved from their ancestors’ days in the canefields, and of saying that the only development they had shown was that their “sickles had been replaced by stethoscopes”.
One of the doctors, who did not want to be named, said on Thursday he was satisfied with the way the matter had been handled by the university.
“The university did an impeccable job in investigating the allegations and handled the matter professionally.”
The doctor said there had been “chronic problems” with Reddi.
“These were grave transgressions which we could no longer ignore.”
The university said it had no further comment on the case.
kamini.padayachee@inl.co.za
The Mercury