The Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of former Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) officer Stanford Sithole, ending a 14-year legal fight over the misuse of official email systems.
Sithole was fired in 2011 after ZIMRA’s ICT team found 13 pornographic messages sent from his work account. He claimed his email had been hacked and accused ZIMRA of victimising him for his union work.
But Justice Alfas Chitakunye dismissed his appeal last week, ruling that the hacking claims were “mere speculation” and that ZIMRA had proved its case on a balance of probabilities.
Earlier, both the Labour Court and the National Employment Council had sided with Sithole, saying the authority failed to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt.”
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The Supreme Court overturned those rulings, stressing that labour cases use a lower proof threshold.
ZIMRA’s ICT Manager testified that Sithole’s email was securely archived and password-protected, making tampering unlikely and that Sithole had not raised any suspicious activity complaint in the period under review.
The judge also noted that other non-unionised employees were dismissed for similar offences.
The ruling reinstates Sithole’s dismissal with costs and sets a clear precedent for workplace digital conduct — a reminder that misuse of corporate systems can have career-ending consequences.
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