MOSSEL BAY NEWS - From April to December last year nine staff were fired from the Garden Route SPCA, which consists of two branches - one in Mossel Bay and one in George.

Two of the staff agreed to a "settlement" with the GR SPCA, but the other seven staff were simply dismissed, according to a reliable source.

When the first three of the nine staff were fired last year, four of the GR SPCA committee members including the chair, Wendy Jones, resigned, seemingly because they were unhappy with the dismissals. The four committee members who resigned together had decades of experience in animal welfare and had served on the committee for decades, accumulatively, as well.

The first three staff fired last year held pivotal managerial positions at the SPCA.

Hearings cost R135 000
In answer to questions from the Mossel Bay Advertiser, the SPCA committee chairman Bruno MacDonald, said the SPCA spent R135 000 on the hearings for two of these three managers. These two managers took their cases to the CCMA. The CCMA hearing of one of these managers is still under way. Several reliable sources told the Mossel Bay Advertiser they felt these managers should not have been dismissed.

They said, at the very most, they should have been given a warning only.

MacDonald became chairman after Wendy Jones stepped down.

The SPCA is dependent on donations from members of the public and businesses.

The most recent staff member - who was in a senior position - to be fired, was highly respected in the community and among colleagues as someone who worked extremely hard and was experienced and good at her job.

This dismissal was on 27 December, according to MacDonald. A reliable source told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that a staffer in a managerial position resigned prior to this dismissal, and refused to testify against the staffer who was dismissed on 27 December. MacDonald confirmed the manager had resigned on 20 December.

Of concern is that this total of nine is a large number of staff to be fired in such a short space of time. Also, the nine people form a large percentage of the staff.

SPCA won Rotary award
Besides these factors, the dismissals are surprising, bearing in mind the GR SPCA won the highly esteemed Rotary Paul Harris Award in February 2019.

The award was presented to the SPCA in recognition of its exemplary work in rescuing pets and wild animals during the George fires at the end of 2018. The GR SPCA staff put their lives at risk and worked around the clock in suburbs and in the countryside, in a choking, smoke-filled atmosphere, evacuating pets and rescuing animals.

At the time of the writing of this article, Wednesday 5 February, the Mossel Bay Advertiser was told that yet another SPCA staffer, also in a managerial position, had just resigned, saying: "I can't take it anymore. I have had enough."

SPCA committee chairman MacDonald said regarding the nine dismissals of staff: "The SPCA is committed to preventing cruelty and ensuring the wellbeing of all animals. We aim to render an efficient and effective service of the highest standard to the community. We are indebted to our supporters and donors who make this possible.

"To achieve these ideals, staff are expected to carry out their duties with care and diligence, and to conform to a disciplinary code of conduct, as prescribed by the National Council of SPCAs, at all times. The employment relationship is confidential and the SPCA may not divulge specific details."

MacDonald noted that with the latest dismissal on 27 December, the case of the staff member had been referred to the CCMA and that the SPCA "may therefore not comment on any aspect of it".

MacDonald said, in terms of the hearings, the SPCA's attorneys rendered their services at welfare rates.

The Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted the National Council for SPCAs for comment on the large number of dismissals at the Garden Route branch and the cost to the SPCA of the hearings. The Advertiser spoke to the media liaison officer, Meg Wilson. Wilson said she would try to respond in time for this edition of the Advertiser, but had not responded by the time of going to press.

Charity shop
A reliable source told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that the SPCA charity shop in Mossel Bay was now being run by a salaried person. She was also getting commission on top of the salary, according to the source. Before this the shop was run by a retired couple at no cost. They volunteered their services.

When it was pointed out to MacDonald that there were many pensioners in Mossel Bay who surely would gladly run the shop voluntarily and when it was asked whether the voluntary post was advertised, MacDonald replied that it had been advertised, but he did not stipulate where the advert appeared and how many times the advert was flighted.

He said: "The charity shop position was advertised, first as voluntary, then as paid. We had no applicants for the voluntary position and only three for the paid position, one of whom did not attend an interview."

The Mossel Bay Advertiser publishes job vacancy advertisements for charities either for free or for a reduced cost and will gladly flight the advert as prominently as possible and as many times as necessary, at as minimal a cost possible for charities.

'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'