Niël Terblanché
The Town Council of Grootfontein has decided to dissolve the employment contract of Kisco Sinvula as the Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
Sinvula was supposed to return to work at the start of the week after a High Court Judge ruled that he should be reinstated.
Judge Boas Usiku nullified the embattled CEO’s suspension on the grounds that the Town Council’s actions were taken without the permission of Erastus Uutoni, the Minister of Urban and Rural Development.
The Chairperson of the Grootfontein Municipality’s Executive Committee, Elisabeth Kastoor confirmed that the Town Council resolved to terminate the employment contract of Sinvula.
“The decision was taken during a special meeting of the council that was held on Wednesday morning. The decision relates to the total disrespect and total disregard that the CEO has shown the rest of the council as well as the fact that he got into a fistfight with a municipal employee earlier in the week,” Kastoor said.
She said that during the special meeting members of the Grootfontein Municipality’s executive committee resolved to fire Sinvula.
“Sinvula’s tenure was terminated in terms of clause 15.1.2 of his employment contract,” she said.
The committee decided to pay Sinvula a severance package equal to the salary and benefits that he would have earned during the remainder of his tenure as CEO.
Mayor Talitha Garises, Chairperson of the Management Committee, Elizabeth Kastoor, Lodewikus Jacobs and Johanna Fillemon were signatories to the resolution. Three other members of the committee opposed the decision.
After signing the resolution, the town council announced that Sinvula will be officially notified that his employment contract was terminated.
In the meantime, it was reported that Sinvula was allegedly involved in a fistfight with another municipality employee, Efraim Tsiseb.
After receiving medical treatment at the local hospital for the injuries he sustained during the altercation, Tsiseb registered a case of assault with the Namibian Police in Grootfontein.
Kastoor mentioned that the altercation occurred on Tuesday and that it was a shining example of the continuous disrespect and disregard that Sinvula had for his colleagues.
