The Labour Court on Friday dismissed an urgent application by former communications department spokesman Wisani Ngobeni to be reinstated to the government post, the Sunday Times reports this morning.
According to the weekly, the court ruled that Ngobeni had failed to explain "why he could not use ordinary litigation to obtain the relief he sought on an urgent basis".
Ngobeni, who served as spin doctor for disgraced former communications minister Dina Pule, was axed at the end of last month, after being found guilty of five charges of misconduct, following a disciplinary inquiry.
The newspaper reports that Ngobeni did not attend the process, and was found guilty in absentia. He was reportedly suspended in April, facing charges relating to hiring a service provider that inflated prices for a departmental function, held in June last year. Ngobeni was also found to have links to the company.
In his urgent court application, Ngobeni claimed that the disciplinary hearing was not unfair and that its chairperson was biased.
However, according to the newspaper, the court found that Ngobeni failed to demonstrate that no suitable alternate relief was available to him, or that he would suffer irreparable harm if he could not obtain immediate relief.
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