Visually impaired prosecutor takes employer to Labour Court

A VISUALLY impaired prosecutor stationed at the Bulawayo Regional Court has taken his employer to the Labour Court seeking to be allowed to prosecute cases in an open court.

Mr Mehluli Ndlovu has been granted the relief by Bulawayo Labour Court president Mrs Mercy Moya-Matshanga.

She ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney  General  Mr Johannes Tomana, the Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, who were cited as 1st to 4th respondents to desist from subjecting him to any restrictions in the performance of his duties.

Mrs Moya-Matshanga ordered Mr Ndlovu's employer to render him with all necessary support to fully and effectively perform his duties without any differentiation with his colleagues.

The order also interdicts the respondents from any conduct, policy or implementation of programmes that have the effect of discriminating against Mr Ndlovu or any other worker who is visually impaired or disabled.

The order also compels the respondents to formalise the status of Mr Ndlovu's assistant to enable him lawful access to court documents forthwith.

Mr Ndlovu was represented by Mr Costa Dube, of Mcijo, Dube and Partners.

He had initially filed an urgent chamber application seeking an interim order compelling the Director of Public Prosecutions to allow him to prosecute in court.

The order was granted by the same court in August last year pending the confirmation of the final order and the respondents filed a notice of opposition resulting in the recent judgment.

In his application, Mr Ndlovu, a holder of a Bachelor of Laws Honours Degree from the University of Zimbabwe said he was admitted into the legal fraternity in January 2005.

Mr Ndlovu joined the Public Service in 2006 and has been working as a set down prosecutor to date.

He approached the Labour Court to seek recourse out of grief of being denied a chance to represent the State in an open court, which he said was discrimination on the grounds of disability.

In his submissions, Mr Ndlovu had said his employer was denying him the opportunity to prosecute criminal cases because of his physical limitation which they said would hinder him from assessing the demeanour of witnesses and because he had no assistant.

The Area Public Prosecutor, Mr Simon Nleya, gave evidence that he approached Mr Maxwell Ranga, the Director of Human Resources in the parent Ministry who gave the green light to look for an assistant for Mr Ndlovu.

In her ruling, Mrs Moya-Matshanga said the assistant was found and is already helping Mr Ndlovu while his salary is reportedly being paid through the applicant's salary as a visually impaired allowance.

She said fears that official secrets would not be handled properly since the assistant did not take oath had been allayed, adding that there has not been any leakage of information since he started assisting Mr Ndlovu.

It was Mr Ndlovu's contention that as a result he had remained stagnant in one post without advancing like his colleagues because of the situation.

Mrs Moya-Matshanga said since the assistant was already there, the employer needs to furnish him with a computer with voice synthesis reading to help him read dockets and research.

"In the result, I find the applicant is being unnecessarily discriminated and I hereby confirm the final order sought," she said.

The order means that Mr Ndlovu could now be allowed to lead the State in prosecuting cases in an open court.