Shude v Member of the Executive Council, Department of Education, Eastern Cape Province and Another

The applicant, a retired educator who retired on 31 January 2014, obtained a court order on 20 January 2022 (Case No. 782/18) directing the Eastern Cape Department of Education and its Head to take administrative steps, in collaboration with the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), to recognise his uninterrupted pensionable service from 1 February 1974 to 31 January 2014. Despite service of the order and repeated undertakings, the respondents failed for an extended period to comply. The applicant launched further proceedings (Case No. 299/2022), resulting in a second order on 26 March 2024 declaring the non-compliance an ongoing constitutional violation and again directing compliance within specified timeframes. The respondents only achieved substantive compliance after the matter was set down for a contempt hearing in February 2025. The remaining dispute before the court concerned whether the respondents had been in contempt of court and the appropriate costs order.

The respondents were ordered to pay the applicant’s party-and-party costs. Counsel’s fees for services rendered after 12 April 2024 were ordered to be taxed on Scale C in terms of rule 69 of the Uniform Rules of Court.

The case reinforces the constitutional principle that organs of state must comply promptly with court orders and that prolonged administrative delay constitutes a violation of sections 2, 165(5) and 237 of the Constitution. It underscores that subsequent compliance does not negate prior contempt and affirms the courts’ willingness to sanction state respondents through adverse costs orders to uphold the rule of law.