Ex-Indian Consulate worker wins R200k after ‘spy’ dismissal

SIPHIWE Mchunu, a long-serving employee at the Indian Consulate in Durban, has been awarded over R200,000 for his unfair dismissal. Yet no sum, he insists,can erase the humiliationhe endured – ‘a torment he would not wish even upon his worst enemy’. The treatment he suffered at the hands of consular officials, Mchunu declared, was a chilling echo of the “brutal and inhuman manner” in which Security Branch policemen once interrogated people under Apartheid.

“After nearly two decades of loyal service to the Government of India in its Durban diplomatic office, I harbour no bitterness towards India itself – a nation of greatness and dignity. But I am consumed with disgust at the undiplomatic, disgraceful, and shameful conduct of certain senior officials in Durban, whose behaviour betrayed every principle of decency and diplomacy,” Mchunu said. Last week the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) handed down a default award to Mchunu after the Consulate General of India – Durban had failed to appear at the hearing.

Hilda Grobler, CCMA Commissioner, ordered the CGI to pay Mchunu compensation in the amount of R200,856 into his bank account by no later than close of business on 25 August 2026. Mchunu, 53, who was employed as a clerk, had approached the CCMA after he claimed he was unfairly dismissed on April 29, 2024. At the CCMA hearing, it was noted that Mchunu testified under oath that he was dismissed after he had been called into the CGI’s boardroom for questioning on April 26, 27 and 29, 2024. Several consular staff were present in the boardroom, 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 Ms Lalitha Ravishanker.