Court Backs Woman Pastor Against Barrage of Sexist Abuse

The Labour Court has ruled in favour of a Seventh Day Adventists Church pastor who was banned from duties because she was a woman.

• The Labour Court has ruled in favour of a woman pastor who resigned from her job at the Seventh Day Adventists Church because of sexist abuse.
• The judge said members of the congregation and church elders had demeaned Lerato Makombe and banned her from duties they said were reserved for men.
• Makombe won a case of constructive dismissal.
• All employers, including churches, are subject to labour laws, Cape Town Acting Labour Court Judge Tapiwa Gandidze said.

A woman pastor who resigned from the Seventh Day Adventists Church following a barrage of sexist abuse from congregants who did not believe women should hold senior positions in the church, has won her case of constructive dismissal in the labour court.

In an earlier ruling, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), dismissed Lerato Makombe’s case. But Cape Town Acting Labour Court Judge Tapiwa Gandidze, who heard the review of the ruling, said members of the congregation and church elders had demeaned Makombe and banned her from duties they said were reserved for male pastors.

“The situation that Makombe found herself in, viewed objectively, she could not be expected to endure any longer,” the judge said.

“The employer demonstrated, over a period, that it was either unwilling or unable to address the challenge of congregants opposed to a female pastor,” she wrote.

She said while Makombe was strong-willed and not easily intimidated, “everyone has a limit”.

“She could not be expected to endure the intolerable conditions indefinitely at the expense of her health, even if it meant ending up being unemployed.”

Judge Gandidze (who this week was recommended by the Judicial Service Commission for permanent appointment), set aside the CCMA order and ordered the church to pay Makombe the equivalent of 12 months salary (about R256,000) within 20 days.

She also ordered the church to pay Makombe’s costs, not only because she had been successful in her application but also because of the “unfathomable” treatment she received from the church “which subscribes to the ethos of care and compassion”.

“It folded its hands and allowed her to fend for herself under the guise that it could not tell its congregants what to do,” the judge said.

Makombe had developed a medical condition as a result, and the church had shown no sympathy or compassion, instead choosing to regard her as a serial complainer.

The judge found that Makombe had no choice but to resign because of her “intolerable” employment conditions.

Makombe started work with the Cape Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists Church in January 2014 as an intern. She later became a pastor. From 2014 to 2020 she was transferred from post to post, often without any consultation, and was met with a hostile reception from congregants.

She was transferred to George in 2019. This was “the final straw”, the judge said.

There, congregants said they were unhappy with a female pastor because this “conflicted with their religious and biblical convictions”.

But Makombe was instructed to remain there and told she would be supported.

However, the congregants and the church elders remained hostile, they demeaned and humiliated her on WhatsApp groups, the judge said. She was also banned from performing certain pastoral duties, which they regarded as reserved for male pastors.

She made several written complaints to the church but received no support.

Suffering from severe mental health issues, for which she was hospitalised, she eventually resigned in November 2020.

Regarding findings by the CCMA commissioner that the church had in fact intervened and assisted Makombe, Judge Gandidze said it had done no such thing.

“At the introductory meeting in George, the congregants openly voiced their opposition to a female pastor and the employer’s only defence is that it could not discipline church members.

“That is an admission that it was either unable or unwilling to address the hostile work environment.”

“It was for the employer, and not Makombe, to find a solution to the problem,” the judge said.

“The congregants were under the employer’s control and the employer failed to remedy the situation by omission.”

She said while the church had eventually transferred Makombe to Gqeberha, this was also done without consultation.

Makombe’s resignation was not voluntary, the judge wrote. She had resigned to avoid a relapse because the employer had failed to protect her. She could have been transferred to districts where she would be accepted by the congregation.

Every employer, including churches, was subject to labour laws, the judge said.

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