Mamodupi Mohlala fighting for her job (again)
National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala said she discovered, via a job advert in last week’s Sunday newspaper advertising her position, that she had been fired by government.
According to Mohlala she is taking the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to court over what she sees as a breach of her contract.
The DTI however said that Molala was informed about the decision in February to advertise her post as her initial contract comes to an end in August and would not automatically be renewed.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has slated the move by the DTI, saying that the incident raises several questions. “Why is the Commissioner being fired in the first place?” asked Geordin Hill-Lewis, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
“In the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) view, the Commissioner has been an eager and effective advocate for consumer rights, with a small budget, to find and prosecute those companies that do not respect the rights of consumers,” said Hill-Lewis.
“The portfolio committee on trade and industry has received no information that would suggest Mohlala deserves to be fired. One wonders whether the commissioner is being fired for being “too active” for the Department of Trade and Industry’s liking, and for challenging the department over the insufficient budget allocation her office receives.”
Mohlala was a former director general of the Department of Communications (DoC), but her tenure at the DoC concluded with her being fired.
In July 2010 the DoC announced that Mohlala had been released from her position with effective immediately. Mohlala however fought back, and took the matter to court.
President Jacob Zuma stepped in, and the issue was finally resolved by making Mohlala the National Consumer Commissioner.
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