Ex-Indian Consulate clerk awarded R200,856 after CCMA finds dismissal unfair

A former clerk at the Indian Consulate in Durban, Siphiwe Mchunu, has been awarded R200,856 after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found his April 29, 2024 dismissal to be unfair and procedurally flawed.

Award and legal history

The CCMA issued a default award after the Consulate General of India – Durban failed to appear at the arbitration hearing on July 21, 2026. CCMA Commissioner Hilda Grobler ordered the consulate to pay R200,856 into Mchunu’s bank account by close of business on 25 August 2026, representing 12 months’ salary.

The dispute has a complex procedural history. Mchunu first approached the CCMA after his dismissal on 29 April 2024. A CCMA commissioner issued an Advisory Award on 3 March 2025, and a jurisdictional ruling on 2 July 2025 found the CCMA lacked jurisdiction. In June 2026, the Labour Court overturned that ruling and held that the CCMA “has jurisdiction to arbitrate the dispute,” allowing the matter to proceed to arbitration.

Allegations of mistreatment and interrogation

At the arbitration hearing Mchunu testified under oath about a series of interrogations on 26, 27 and 29 April 2024. He said he was called into the consulate boardroom and questioned repeatedly by several consular staff, including the then Consul General, Dr Thelma John-David, and the head of Chancery, Prem Sagar, as well as Rajesh Kumar, Akhinesh Ojha, Vivek Kathare and Lalitha Ravishanker.

Mchunu said he was instructed to hand over his personal cell phone and that, despite numerous requests, the consulate has not returned it. He told the CCMA he was asked personal questions about his family, including his son who was employed in China and his 16-year-old daughter, and that he was not told why he had been called in for questioning.

He described being pressed to provide access to his online bank on the evening of 26 April 2024, refusing initially before being escorted to an ATM later that night and pressured to disclose his PIN. Consular staff then printed a bank statement from his account, he said.

Mchunu also said his car was found forcibly searched in the consulate basement that night and that an eyewitness later told him consular staff were responsible for the break-in. He said he was not permitted to fetch his daughter from school that evening and was only allowed to leave the consulate around midnight.

On 29 April 2024 he reported being stopped and strip-searched by security and, after further questioning in the boardroom, was summarily dismissed when he did not supply the information sought.

Criminal charges and evidence

Mchunu provided the CCMA with a copy of a South African Police Service incident report. The report records that he was “interrogated with personal questions regarding my wife and children, more especially my son who is teaching in China,” and quotes questions about how his son started working in China and whether he had contacts in China. The report also records that Prem Sagar asked if Mchunu had contacts in China and that consular staff had previously suspected him of being a Chinese spy.

“a torment he would not wish even upon his worst enemy”

Mchunu said he lodged criminal charges against the consular staff named in his testimony: Dr John-David, Sagar, Kumar, Ojha, Kathare and Ravishanker.

CCMA findings on law and procedure

Commissioner Grobler found it was not in dispute that Mchunu was dismissed without being informed of the alleged misconduct or being called to a disciplinary hearing. The CCMA concluded the consulate had relied on a clause in Mchunu’s contract that sought to permit termination without reason, but that clause “was of no force or effect” where it attempted to override rights under the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

The CCMA emphasised that a suspicionhowever strong or reasonabledoes not constitute misconduct and is insufficient to justify dismissal. The commissioner said the respondent failed to provide a fair reason for the dismissal and did not follow fair procedure, as required by the LRA.

Compensation and next steps

In assessing damages the CCMA noted the personal and financial intrusions Mchunu suffered: being detained after hours and prevented from collecting his daughter, having his vehicle broken into, his bank account accessed after pressure at an ATM, and confiscation of his cell phone.

The IOL report states the Indian Consulate General’s Office was approached for comment; a response was to be added if received.