Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi gave herself powers she was not entitled to when she fired deputy director of corporate services Nelly Letsholonyane in April, the Johannesburg Labour Court has said.

Kubayi fired Letsholonyane after being stuck in a lift for over an hour on 14 March.

She blamed the deputy director for the incident and terminated her contract the following month.

GroundUp reported that Kubayi alerted her colleagues about the incident through a WhatsApp message. 

This week, the court dismissed Kubayi's application for leave to appeal an order to reinstate Letsholonyane.

"The minister has undoubtedly given herself powers she does not have. The respondents failed to direct this court to the source of the minister's powers.

"Having considered the grounds of arguments upon which leave to appeal is sought and the main judgment, it is my considered view that the appeal would have no reasonable prospects of success," Judge Molatelo Makhura ruled.

Kubayi's spokesperson Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota told News24 that the minister was consulting her legal team.

"This an ongoing legal matter and we will communicate at the right time once the process has been concluded," she said.

Just before 20:00 on 14 March, Kubayi posted on a WhatsApp group that she was stuck in a lift and that the "responsible person has already left work".

On 15 March, Letsholonyane received a letter of intent to dismiss her for "gross negligence" and for threatening employee safety despite responding immediately to the incident.

The letter stated that the "misconduct emanated from an incident that occurred on 14 March 2023", where Kubayi and others were "trapped in a lift for a period of more than one hour".

Letsholonyane was given until 16 March to explain why she should not be dismissed.

She submitted her written explanation denying the alleged misconduct and indicating that a disciplinary hearing would be the appropriate forum to deal with the allegations.

On 3 April, Letsholonyane was called into a meeting where Kubayi informed her she had three options available: Be dismissed, face a disciplinary hearing with suspension, or take early retirement.

She opted for early retirement "under protest".

However, on 20 April, Letsholonyane got a call that she had been dismissed with immediate effect.

She made an application to the Labour Court and, in June, Judge Makhura ruled that Kubayi's conduct was "unlawful".