Government official in trouble after appearing bare-chested on Zoom parliamentary meeting
During a virtual meeting of the senior management team of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Christopher Mulaudzi attended the online meeting topless. Afterwards, he said; “I was totally unaware the video was on.”
A screenshot of the virtual parliamentary meeting in which an official, Christopher Mulaudzi, participated bare-chested.
Christopher Mulaudzi, an official of DPWI is facing disciplinary actions after he appeared without a shirt in a virtual parliamentary committee meeting. His colleagues were shocked to see him in bed, bare-chested, and his bosses did not take the matter ‘lying down’.
The Director-general of the department, Sam Vukela said, “This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has brought the department into serious disrepute.”
“We’ll take him immediately out of the programme,” Vukela said as Mulaudzi’s picture was removed from the feed, which is now being viewed by many in his country.
The next day, the department released a statement of apology to the committee chairperson, members of parliament and the general public “for the errant behaviour displayed by the government official.”
According to the statement: “The official was caught on video laying on the bed, topless and wearing only shorts, while the meeting was in session. A behaviour which the department strongly condemns as it undermined the decorum of the meeting.”
The reprimanded official, Mulaudzi, also offered his sincere apology, saying that he did not realise the video was switched on. But senior government officials claim that this is a very serious offence, and must be followed by a proper disciplinary process.
COVID-19 has transformed the working environment and fast-tracked digitalisation in the workplace. Working from home seems to have gone wrong on this occasion.
In April, the Guardian reported that Good Morning America reporter, Will Reeve, hosted a show while only wearing a shirt and a blazer, and the camera accidentally exposed him without his pants. In another viral video, a woman, believed to be from the US accidentally left her camera on while in the loo during a video conference call.
Working remotely has become the norm all over the world, but many people are still not self-conscious enough about their appearances as they self-isolate to halt the spread of the virus.