When Cultures Clash

This week I have been stunned by what one of our employees has done and I am mulling over whether to fire the person. First we have to understand the cultures as my small staff is made up of many tribes and each one has differences and beliefs. The problem is what they believe in we do not quite understand and comprehend and this is where we run into problems. What may seem normal to someone with rural thinking back ground is not necessarily an excuse and should allow them to do whatever either. I am seriously struggling as my family says you cannot dismiss them for this offence

The Zulu (tribe) strongly believe in ancestral spirits of the dead called the Amadlozi and if you have bad luck, an illness or misfortune then someone is targeting you. This is not something we believe in and to get rid of the bad juju they will visit a Sangoma or witch doctor. You may have seen films where bones are shaken and thrown to the ground to reveal if the spirits are angry and for this Sangoma's make a good living. This is all part of their tradition and even though many are westernized today they still seriously believe this stuff.

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One of my drivers poured strong bleach over the drivers seat of the delivery van and let it soak into the entire seat. When you climb into the delivery van cab all you can smell is this strong disinfectant which is over powering like someone has gone overboard cleaning the inside. This is now permanent unless you rip out the interior and replace it.

This in my belief has taken this too far as he has destroyed company property with him still believing this is helping ward off any evil spirits. You cannot make this type of stuff up and it beggars belief what they feel entitled to do.

The vehicle is now off the road and has gone through for a service today and a valet, but that will not change anything. You wonder what else is going on behind your back because this is crazy stuff.

My head is telling me to fire him for destroying company property and that is the most likely outcome. The scary part is this vehicle is near the end of it's lifespan and will be replaced with a shiny new vehicle shortly. I cannot run the risk of keeping him if he will repeat this same action as his beliefs have have not changed. i have already said he is banned from driving any other vehicle and that includes any new vehicles that may arrive. When his vehicle he drives has gone he has no vehicles to drive so his actions have cost him his job.

We have had other incidents between other tribes with one being two workers who fell out when working overtime one weekend. The one who had no battery left on his phone had his wife worried trying to get hold of him and she phoned another colleague to try and get hold of him. This was seen as taboo as now they are having an affair according to the husband. He had forgotten that a while back he had used his colleagues phone to phone his wife and how she had kept the number just in case she needed it again. This was still unacceptable and these two do not talk to each other anymore like each other does not exist and sadly he has ended the marriage.

Culturally on the surface things tend to move along smoothly, but dig a little deeper and there are huge differences. These are just two examples that have happened with a small group of workers over the last few months.

The first time I encountered tribal issues was way back in 1991 when a truck arrived at work and needed help offloading. The truck was from Johannesburg (Xhosa tribe) and we were in Durban (Zulu) and my guys would not help off load the truck as they were Xhosa's. Since those days they tend to work together ,but the tribal part is still around.

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