RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN S.A. EMPLOYMENT LAW

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 13 November 2026, Labour Court, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) Case No: PR99/2020 Name of Judge(s): Lagrange J Summary of Factual Matrix: The applicant, the Butterworth Regional Manager of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, was dismissed on 30 October 2019 after being found guilty of theft of rental monies (a tenant having been directed to pay rent into his personal bank account), allocating corporate properties to himself at Property Allocation Committee meetings at which he was the only substantive member, and letting a property to a foreign national without a credit assessment. A CCMA arbitrator found the dismissal procedurally and substantively fair in an award of 25 March 2020. The applicant's review application was filed outside the six-week period, the record was uplifted and delivered late, and the review was deemed withdrawn under clause 11.2.3 of the Practice Manual on 10 February 2021. A defective condonation application deposed...

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 11 November 2026, Labour Court, Cape Town Case No: C369/2024 Name of Judge(s): Dzai AJ Summary of Factual Matrix: The applicant, a Military Intelligence Assistant employed by the Department of Defence, referred an unfair labour practice dispute concerning benefits (the refusal of temporary incapacity leave) to the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council. Her appointment letter described her appointment as one of Public Service Act Personnel and subjected her conditions of service to the Public Service Act, PSCBC collective agreements and the LRA. At arbitration the Department contended that the Council lacked jurisdiction because she was a member of the SANDF excluded from the LRA by section 2(a), and that she had not exhausted the internal grievance procedures. The commissioner ruled that the Council lacked jurisdiction, reasoning from her attachment to the SANDF, her workplace and her intelligence functions, without reference to her a...

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 11 November 2026, Labour Court, Cape Town Case No: 2025/081898 Name of Judge(s): Lagrange J Summary of Factual Matrix: The third respondent, a beverage merchandiser earning R3 900 a month, collapsed on 15 May 2019 with spinal pain and lower-limb immobility and was booked off by a hospital doctor until 16 June 2019; an MRI showed no structural abnormality. He thereafter submitted notes from an intern doctor (diagnosing major depressive disorder with suspected psychosomatic symptoms) and a physiotherapist, which the employer rejected as not acceptable medical certificates. Disciplinary proceedings for unauthorised absence and other charges were initiated and postponed but then abandoned; instead the employer issued a return-to-work ultimatum, to which he responded within the seven-day period, and on 13 August 2019 it terminated his employment for abscondment without a hearing. The arbitrator found that abscondment required an intention to abandon ...

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 10 November 2026, Labour Court, Cape Town Case No: C09/2025 Name of Judge(s): Lagrange J Summary of Factual Matrix: The first respondent, who had no accounting qualification, was employed by the applicant from 31 October 2022 in a stores and administrative role requiring use of a complex custom accounting and stock-control system (BPO). He had raised his difficulties with the system early on; an assistant was appointed in February 2024, and in May 2024 the applicant introduced company-wide KPIs and placed him on a performance improvement plan of three or four sessions, during which the only dedicated BPO training consisted of two short Loom videos. Following an incapacity enquiry before an external chairperson, he was dismissed for poor work performance. The arbitrator found the dismissal substantively unfair, holding that the employer had not proved that he was aware of the performance standard or had been given adequate training and a reasonab...

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 6 November 2026, Labour Court, Johannesburg Case No: 2026/219831 Name of Judge(s): Makhura J Summary of Factual Matrix: The first respondent was employed by the applicant, a specialised distributor of medical and diagnostic equipment, as an Applications and Marketing Specialist from January 2024. Her contract contained restraint of trade, non-solicitation and confidentiality undertakings, the restraint operating for twelve months after termination. She resigned on 29 June 2026; after an investigation into her alleged transmission of confidential information to her personal email address and to a supplier, she was summarily dismissed on 31 July 2026, her last day of work. On 1 August 2026 she took up employment with the second respondent, a direct competitor, as Product Manager and Applications Specialist, and declined to furnish undertakings to comply with the restraint. The applicant approached the Court urgently for final interdicts enforcing ...

Date of Judgment & Seat of Court: 6 November 2026, Labour Court, Cape Town Case No: C439/2024 Name of Judge(s): Dzai AJ Summary of Factual Matrix: The applicant was appointed by the City of Cape Town as a Senior Professional Officer (IQMS Specialist), a T14 post newly created in its branch, subject to six months' probation. Her line manager set targets in January 2023 derived from the job description; her February to April assessments were satisfactory, but from May he scored her mainly 2 or 2.5 (a score not on the prescribed scale) on the footing that deliverables had not been completed, signed off and implemented. Representations were invited in June, probation was extended by two months, and her employment was terminated on 31 August 2023 after further representations. The commissioner held the dismissal substantively and procedurally fair, relying on the Recruitment and Selection Policy, the agreed targets, monthly feedback, training, her seniority and remuneration, her ...