I was called a k ***** and fired
Driver faces hearing after laying charges against his boss
A man who took on his manager for alleged racism, claims he was victimised and later fired for his stance.
Joseph Booi, 50, a driver at a mining supplies company in Alberton on the East Rand, said he was dismissed after he laid a crimen injuria charge against his manager, who called him the K-word.
Booi was fired on Tuesday after he faced an internal disciplinary hearing at Becker Mining Company.
But Booi insisted the charges were brought against him soon after he opened a case against his manger Nico de Lange for calling him by the K-word during a heated argument at work.
De Lange appeared briefly in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of crimen injuria.
The case was postponed to March 13.
De Lange’s lawyer Johan Britz said his client would not be talking about the matter until it was concluded in court.
Booi said that during a heated argument with De Lange about overtime money in December, De Lange hurled racial profanities at him.
Booi said he then filed a formal complaint against De Lange when the company reopened on January 9.
A week later, the company slapped him with four charges of fraud, gross dishonesty, unauthorised use and possession of a company car.
Christo van Vuuren, a human resources manager at the company, refused to comment.
Patrick Sebiloane of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA said workers at the company were subjected to racial discrimination and ill-treatment daily. “He was victimised because he laid a complaint against Nico,” he said.