Theft in the place of work is an act of misconduct in Zimbabwe

Theft in the workplace in Zimbabwe is regarded as a serious offence and an act of misconduct. Theft in the workplace is the unauthorised and intentional appropriation of property belonging to the employer or other person in the employment environment, with the intention of permanently depriving the other of that property.

The High Court in S v Chitalu HMA 57-18 held that:

“Theft from an employer is indeed a serious offence which entails breach of trust. Be that as it may my view is that not every case of theft from an employer warrants a prison term.”

A charge of theft requires that, a presiding officer ensure that, on a balance of probabilities, the employee appropriated the employer’s property with the intention of denying it possession. In Aquarius Platinum (SA) (Pty) Ltd v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration & Others (2020) 41 ILJ 2059 (LAC) it was held that:

“In industrial relations parlance, theft is frequently described as misappropriation of the employer’s property. Conceptually there is no useful distinction. The frequent resort to the lesser offence of being in ‘unauthorised possession’ of the employer’s property, an act of misconduct listed in many disciplinary codes, caters for cases where a thieving intention is suspected and requires of employees to ensure that they do not place themselves under suspicion, relieving an employer from having to prove a specific intent. To articulate the notion of a misappropriation of property that is free of dishonesty is a contradiction in terms. In the court’s view, to describe the deliberate retaining of property which the employee is not entitled to retain is not distinguishable, conceptually, from theft.”