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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2018 |
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Precautionary suspension over admitted unlawful VBS investments was lawfully imposed pending further investigations.
Labour law – Precautionary suspension – Regulation 6 of Senior Managers Disciplinary Regulations – lawfulness tested by existence of serious misconduct and reasonableness of employer’s belief that presence may jeopardise investigation or cause conflict. Municipal finance – MFMA s7(3)(b) – investments in banks not registered under Banks Act – admitted misconduct. Jurisdiction – Labour Court entitled to determine lawfulness of suspension; SALGBC lacks jurisdiction on lawfulness. Disciplinary procedure – Preliminary disciplinary board report does not bind council from ordering further investigation and suspension. Urgency – applicant failed to establish clear right or irreparable harm required for urgent final relief.
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28 December 2018 |
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Urgent enforcement of a valid restraint protecting an attorney practice's client base granted; restraint upheld and limited interdict issued.
Restraint of trade – urgency in restraint applications; interpretation of restraint agreements incorporating template/company wording; protectable interest in client trade connections for legal practices; breach by solicitation/following of clients; proportionality and reasonableness balancing; interdict as appropriate remedy where damages are inadequate.
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14 December 2018 |
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Reported
An employee must personally dissociate from an unprotected strike and communicate intent to return, or face lawful sanctions.
Labour law – unprotected strike – individual duty to dissociate and communicate intent to return to work; Peace Agreement and no-work-no-pay as lawful sanctions; review standard under Sidumo; mootness and live controversy.
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13 December 2018 |
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Reported
Strike for a 6% wage increase was protected: industry settlement and main agreement did not bind the applicant, so prohibitions in s65 did not apply.
Labour law – strike – matter of mutual interest – s65(1)(c) (enforcement of agreement) – industry settlement not binding because employers' organisation not party and settlement not extended; s65(3)(a) (collective agreement regulation/procedural limitation) – bargaining council constitution/dispute procedure complied with; main agreement prohibiting plant bargaining not binding on non‑party employers; s64(1) notice complied with – strike protected.
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10 December 2018 |
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Whether an amended claim alleging a tacit long-term employment right and future damages discloses a cause of action and is sufficiently clear.
Civil procedure – exception – test for exception: excipient must show that on every reasonable interpretation no cause of action is disclosed. Contract/employment law – tacit terms – when relied upon must be expressly pleaded and clarified. Damages – distinction between general and special contractual damages; special damages must have been within parties’ contemplation. Pleadings – vagueness and embarrassment: opaque amendments must be struck or clarified to enable proper response.
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10 December 2018 |
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Persistent violent or unlawful picketing may justify suspension or forfeiture of the right to picket under section 69 LRA.
Picketing rules; s69 LRA; peaceful picketing requirement; violence, intimidation and unlawful conduct; suspension/forfeiture of picketing rights; urgent interim relief under s69(12); variation of picketing rules; alternative to contempt proceedings.
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7 December 2018 |
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Reported
Labour Court may suspend picketing rights where picketing rules are materially breached and violence persists.
Labour law – Picketing – s 69 LRA – peaceful picketing requirement; material breach by violence and intimidation may justify suspension of picketing rights. s 69(8)/(12) LRA – disputes about picketing rules – Labour Court may grant just and equitable interim relief, including varying or suspending picketing rules. Remedies – suspension/forfeiture of picketing rights and structural remedies are permissible alternatives to committal for contempt. Public policy – protection of non‑strikers, property and public order where picketing rules are flouted.
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7 December 2018 |
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Reported
Labour Court may vary CCMA picketing rules urgently under s69(12) to prevent unlawful conduct while preserving peaceful picketing.
Labour law – Picketing rules – s 69 LRA – Court’s power under s 69(12) to grant urgent interim relief and vary CCMA-issued picketing rules pending conciliation/adjudication; balancing right to peaceful picket against preventing violence and unlawful conduct; consolidation of picketing areas and prohibition on concealing identity justified where multiple areas facilitate unlawful conduct.
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5 December 2018 |
| November 2018 |
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Reported
Interest on a judgment debt accrues from judgment date at the prescribed simple annual rate; compound monthly interest disallowed.
Prescribed Rate of Interest Act — interest on judgment debts accrues from judgment date; BCEA s75 refers to PRIA — no compound monthly interest; mora and ascertainability of quantum for pre-judgment interest; exceptional costs de bonis propriis against negligent attorneys.
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29 November 2018 |
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Reported
A facilitated settlement agreement is not reviewable under s158(1)(g) LRA; attorneys ordered to pay costs de bonis propriis.
Labour law – Review – Settlement agreements arising from facilitation are contractual and not reviewable under s158(1)(g) LRA unless made an arbitration award; Contract law – Rescission – misrepresentation/duress must be pleaded and proved; Acceptance of settlement payments – approbation/peremption bars subsequent challenge without tender to repay; Labour law – s197 transfer – change in shareholding alone does not prove transfer as going concern; Costs – de bonis propriis appropriate where attorneys persist in a meritless prosecution despite clear warnings and case law.
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28 November 2018 |
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Reported
A non-representative union lacks a freestanding right to have its official represent a member at grievance hearings absent statutory or contractual entitlement.
Labour law – Organisational rights – Representation at grievance/disciplinary hearings – Interaction of LRA Part A Chapter III (ss 12–16, 18, 21) with constitutional freedom of association and ILO principles – Minority unions’ remedies (bargaining, arbitration, strike) versus freestanding right to represent members.
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15 November 2018 |
| October 2018 |
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An applicant alleging unfair dismissal must pursue LRA remedies; s77(3) BCEA concurrent jurisdiction cannot be used to bypass the LRA.
Labour law – jurisdiction – s 77(3) BCEA concurrent jurisdiction does not permit litigant whose cause of action is unfair dismissal to bypass LRA remedies; deployment under international cooperation treaty; treaty visa conditionality; non-joinder and urgency considered.
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24 October 2018 |
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Reported
A section 197(6) agreement concluded in collective bargaining is a collective agreement and may be extended under section 23(1)(d).
Labour law – Section 197(6) agreements – Whether a section 197(6) agreement concluded within a section 189A consultation/collective bargaining process constitutes a collective agreement (s213/123) and can be extended under s23(1)(d); majoritarianism and workplace definition in extension and collective bargaining contexts.
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19 October 2018 |
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Reported
Labour Court lacked s158(1)(g) jurisdiction to review an independent exemptions appeal; dispute falls under collective agreement procedures.
Labour law – Jurisdiction of Labour Court – Section 158(1)(g) LRA – meaning of "function provided for in this Act"; Exemptions from collective agreements – appeals to independent exemptions body – whether such appeals are reviewable under s158(1)(g); Collective agreements – interpretation and application – s24 dispute mechanism may oust review jurisdiction; Review grounds – rationality/legality and Sidumo test inapplicable where statutory review absent.
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18 October 2018 |
