South Africa is full of woo..

When an employee gives his boss a sick note from a traditional healer it should be taken as seriously as a certificate from a qualified medical doctor, the Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled.

Following a unanimous judgment , Judge Azhar Cachalia has ordered the reinstatement of Johanna Mmoledi, a section chef sacked by the Kievits Kroon Country Estate, near Pretoria, in 2007.

Mmoledi was fired after attending a course on traditional healing and not returning to work.

Mmoledi claimed her absence from work was caused by “circumstances” beyond her control.

She said she had received a “calling from her ancestors” that she be trained as a traditional healer.

Mmoledi said she was “sick because she saw visions of her ancestors” and had been “disturbed in her spirits”.

Mmoledi attended the course in the afternoons for two months, presumably outside of working hours. She then asked for five weeks unpaid leave to finish the course. Due to being short-staffed, her employer only allowed for one week leave. She attended the course anyway and was fired for disobedience and not being at work without permission.

As our tipster notes, South Africa can’t decide, whether it wants to be a modern society or an African backwater.