Minister of Home Affairs v Public Service Association obo GR Ngobeni and Others

Mr Gilbert Ngobeni was employed by the Department of Home Affairs at the Marabastad Refugee Office and acted as Refugee Reception Manager for over five years. He was dismissed for gross negligence after extending asylum seeker temporary permits for two individuals (Mr Iga and Mr Adebo) despite the Refugee Appeal Board (RAB) having finally rejected their asylum appeals months earlier. At arbitration before the General Public Services Sector Bargaining Council, the commissioner found the dismissal substantively unfair and ordered reinstatement with backpay. The Minister of Home Affairs applied to the Labour Court to review and set aside the arbitration award, alleging that the commissioner failed to properly consider material evidence and applied an incorrect approach to resolving factual disputes.

The arbitration award dated 1 October 2018 was reviewed and set aside. The unfair dismissal dispute was remitted to the General Public Services Sector Bargaining Council for a rehearing de novo before a different commissioner. No costs order was made in the review application, but the applicant was ordered to pay the costs of its condonation application.

The case reaffirms the application of the Sidumo reasonableness test and emphasises that commissioners must properly evaluate all material evidence, including credibility, reliability and probabilities, rather than preferring evidence based on seniority. It illustrates the Labour Court’s supervisory role in ensuring fair arbitration proceedings and clarifies that failures to apply one’s mind to material issues can render an award reviewably unreasonable.