When overseas entrepeneurs wanted to speed up the registration of their company, they approached local citizen, Mr Pillay, to be a joint director in their company. He agreed. But for that he very nearly ended up in jail!

The saga began when the company, Rong-shin dismissed Numsa member, Samuel Moekgetla. Numsa took up a case of unfair dismissal which they won. The court ordered the company to reinstate him and pay him backpay for the months that he had been out of work.

However, when the company did nothing, Numsa served contempt of court papers on Mr Pillay, described in the official register of companies as the Director of Rong-shin. The papers ordered Mr Pillay to appear himself in the Labour Court , failing which he would be put in jail.

It was a worried Mr Pillay that subsequently appeared in the Labour Court . Describing himself as the production manager, Pillay denied any power to reinstate or make payments to Moekgetla.

Numsa’s legal officer, Norma Craven , made it clear to Pillay and his lawyer outside the court that unless the company complied with the court order within 48 hours, Numsa would have no hesitation in ordering the police to have Pillay arrested.

As Numsa News went to print, Moekgetla had been reinstated and negotiations were continuing over how the company was going to pay the roughly R40 000 owing to the worker.