Problem
Mokhatšana is an employee of Phunyunka Bamphethe Financial Services (PBS) in their Johannesburg Central Branch. PBS specialises in providing credit to consumers such as short[1]term loans. Some of Mokhatšana's colleagues were dissatisfied with the remuneration packages they were receiving from the employer and decided that they will start adding an additional 1% interest on every loan. They would also not record the interest revenue derived from the 1% surcharge in the company's ledger accounts. The colleagues told clients that they should only pay their loans back in cash and not through the company's bank accounts. Moreover, Mokhatšana's colleagues also made a pact in which they threatened to 'visit unimaginable pain and destruction' to whosoever decided to 'snitch out' and report their activities to the employer. For a period of about 9 months, Mokhatšana's colleagues collected a 1% surcharge on every loan extended to clients without accounting for it in the company's financial records. One day, however, a dissatisfied debtor decided to lodge a complaint with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) over the high interest charges on loans imposed by PBS. It was only after that complaint to the NCR that the employer became aware of the fraudulent practice in the PBS Johannesburg Central Branch. During its investigation to discover those employees who were responsible for the 1% fraudulent surcharge, every one of the employees in the branch refused to assist the employer. The regional manager, Dominica Dunbar, also questioned Mokhatšana about what she knew of this surcharge scandal. Although Mokhatšana refused to assist the employer, she explained to the manager that she was unable to assist because she was worried about her safety. Nevertheless, Dominica Dunbar decided that since Mokhatšana and her colleagues refused to assist in identifying the perpetrators, they would all be dismissed. With reference to case law and legislation, identify and discuss with Mokhatšana about the fairness of her dismissal.