City of Johannesburg v SAMWU obo Lucas Monareng and Another

An employee of the City of Johannesburg, represented by SAMWU, obtained an arbitration award in his favour under the auspices of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council. The City launched a review application in the Labour Court to set aside the award and applied for a stay of its enforcement pending review. The Labour Court granted the stay but ordered the City, as a condition, to furnish security in terms of section 145(8) of the Labour Relations Act. The City appealed, contending that as a municipality governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), it was prohibited from providing such security and should be exempted.

The appeal was upheld. The Labour Court order requiring the City to furnish security was set aside and replaced with an order staying enforcement of the arbitration award pending the review application, without any requirement to provide security. No order as to costs was made.

The case clarifies that public sector employers, including municipalities regulated by the MFMA or PFMA, are not automatically exempt from the security requirements in section 145(7) and (8) of the LRA. It affirms parity between public and private employers and underscores the discretionary nature of the Labour Court’s power to dispense with or reduce security, reinforcing principled judicial reasoning in the exercise of that discretion.