Skip to document content Skip to main menu Skip to search
profile image

Labour Appeal Court of South Africa

The Labour Appeal Court is a South African court that hears appeals from the Labour Court. The court was established by the Labour Relations Act, 1995, and has a status similar to that of the Supreme Court of Appeal.It has its seat in  Johannesburg but also hears cases in  Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Physical address
86 Juta Street, Arbour Square Building, 6th and 7th Floors, Corner Juta and Melle Streets, Braamfontein 2001
Visit website
https://www.justice.gov.za/labourcourt/
7 judgments
Advanced search
All years
Filters
  • Filters
  • Judges
  • Labels
  • Alphabet
Sort by:
7 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
November 2020
Commercial Stevedoring Agricultural and Allied Workers Union and Others v Oak Valley Estates (Pty) Ltd and Another (CA 11/2019) [2020] ZALAC 80 (17 November 2020)
Reported
Labour Court cannot adjudicate picketing‑rule breaches without CCMA conciliation; interdicts must not evict employees or be overly broad.
Labour law – Picketing disputes – s 69 LRA – mandatory CCMA conciliation before court may order compliance with picketing rules; Interdict – scope and limits – interdict amounting to eviction by implication invalid; Protected strike – employer entitled to limited relief against unlawful/criminal conduct by named employees; Urgency does not override s 69 conciliation requirement.
 17 November 2020
NUM obo Majebe v Civil and General Contractors (PA 6/2019) [2020] ZALAC 81 (17 November 2020)
Reported
An arbitration award for reinstatement/back-pay is a "debt" and review proceedings interrupt prescription until finalisation.
Labour law; prescription of arbitration awards; Prescription Act applicable to LRA claims; arbitration award for reinstatement/back-pay is a "debt"; referral to CCMA and review proceedings interrupt prescription until finalisation (Pieman’s applied).
 17 November 2020
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union v UASA N.O. and Others (JA 52/2019) [2020] ZALAC 83 (13 November 2020)
Reported
Organizational rights cannot be based on outdated membership data; current representativeness is essential.
Labour Law – Organisational Rights – Entitlement based on representativity – Requirement for current membership assessment for organizational rights.
 13 November 2020
South African Police Service v POPCRU obo Mmatli NO and Others (JA 39/2019) [2020] ZALAC 79 (13 November 2020)
Reported
Employee bore evidentiary burden to prove justification; hearsay did not establish private defence, dismissal was fair.
Labour law – dismissal for misconduct – SAPS Disciplinary Regulations Reg 20(z) – commission of common‑law offence as misconduct; Onus and evidentiary burden – employee must prove justification/private defence on balance of probabilities; Section 192(2) LRA does not shift burden to employer to disprove defences; Hearsay – investigatory witnesses’ recounting of employee’s out‑of‑court version inadmissible as proof of justification; Criminal acquittal irrelevant to disciplinary misconduct finding.
 13 November 2020
Techniflex CC and Another v Maanaso and Another (JA 58/2019) [2020] ZALAC 77 (13 November 2020)
Reported
Inconsistent evidence and lack of notice precluded contempt finding, but the arbitration reinstatement order remains enforceable.
Labour law — contempt of court — requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt for wilful non‑compliance with certified arbitration award; credibility and inconsistencies in evidence critical to contempt findings; fines for contempt are punitive and payable to the State; arbitration awards remain enforceable despite dismissal of contempt application.
 13 November 2020
UASA and Others v Western Platinum (Pty) Ltd and Others (JA 61/2019) [2020] ZALAC 78 (13 November 2020)
Reported
Adverse costs order without reasons in a labour matter justified appellate interference despite mootness.
Practice and procedure — Mootness — Whether exceptional circumstances justify hearing costs only; Labour law — Costs in labour matters — costs do not ordinarily follow the result; Requirement that presiding officers give reasons and judicially exercise discretion when awarding costs; Enforcement of certified arbitration awards — interplay with section 143(4) of the LRA; Appellate interference where lower court misdirects on costs.
 13 November 2020
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Others v Ramaila and Others (CA 5/2019) [2020] ZALAC 76 (9 November 2020)
Reported
A newcomer’s pay‑progression complaint failed: "any other arbitrary ground" is narrow and collective bargaining terms are not PAJA administrative action.

* Employment equity – scope of "any other arbitrary ground" – narrow, analogous‑grounds approach; "newness" not analogous. Labour law/collective agreements – PSCBC Resolution altering pay‑progression qualifying period; contractual product of collective bargaining. Administrative law – PAJA applicability – collective agreements and related ministerial/departmental policies regulating conditions of service do not, by virtue of s 5(6) deeming, necessarily constitute administrative action reviewable under PAJA.

 9 November 2020