THE Labour Court in Bulawayo has ordered the government to reverse the transfer of a senior teacher who was demoted from her position as a teacher-in-charge.
Labour Court judge Justice Lillian Hove reversed the transfer of Tandiwe Moyo from Tategulu Primary School in Bulawayo to Mkhithika Thebe Primary School.
Moyo was employed as a teacher at Mahlathini Primary School and a teacher-in-charge position at Tategulu Primary School in Cowdray Park was advertised in August 2011.
She applied and got promoted to the position.
However, due to a toxic relationship with the school head she was accused of incompetence.
The matter was reported to the district schools inspector (DSI) and Bulawayo provincial education director (PED) Bernard Mazambani, who supported her demotion and transfer.
In a letter dated January 18 last year, Mazambani notified Moyo of the decision.
Moyo took the matter to the Labour Court challenging her transfer and demotion citing the ministry, Mazambani, the DSI and Tategulu Primary School head as respondents.
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Justice Hove ruled in Moyo’s favour ordering her reinstatement.
In her submissions, Moyo told the court that Bulawayo PED unilaterally demoted and transferred her.
She accused the school head of feeding the DSI Reigate and the PED’s offices with falsehoods for them to enforce her demotion and transfer.
“There is absolutely no way a school head’s office can override decisions or appointments made by a senior office, in this case, the school head’s office cannot override decisions and appointments made by a PED’s office yesterday or today,” she told the court.
“My promotion had been done above board based on meritocracy as I had gone through an interview conducted by the PED’s office then, Dan Moyo, who has since retired.”
She also submitted that she raised a query with the PED’s office over her oral removal from the position without an act of misconduct justifying decision.
Moyo was ordered to prove that she had been elevated to the TIC position and was demoted by the school head in January 2023 through oral procedures.
