A company owned by media personality Somizi Mhlongo is facing a harsh legal blow after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) ordered the seizure of company assets to settle unpaid employee wages amounting to R165,402.62.
The enforcement ruling, issued on June 23, 2025, targets Search Light Pty Ltd, co-directed by Mhlongo and Lindo Maleho, following the company’s failure to pay cleaning staff placed at Transnet’s Carlton Centre offices. Workers claim they were abruptly and unfairly dismissed in April without warning or a disciplinary hearing, a violation the CCMA has confirmed.
In response, the sheriff has been authorized to auction movable company assets to recover not only the owed salaries for April, May, and June, but also accrued interest.
One of the affected former employees voiced the group’s frustration: “We received no warning or hearing; we were simply let go.” This echoes the CCMA’s finding of procedural unfairness in the dismissals.
Thabiso Putswe, representing the Hetelicca Trade Union, welcomed the ruling, revealing that a separate unfair dismissal case against the company is still pending.
Repeated attempts to contact both Mhlongo and Maleho for comment have gone unanswered, leaving questions about accountability and the company’s future hanging in the air.
