South African Police Services v Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council and Others

The South African Police Services (SAPS) dismissed Ms Cikiswa Antoinette Mangaliso, a police sergeant, for serious misconduct arising during the Covid‑19 lockdown. Her adult foster daughter was lawfully arrested for breaching Disaster Management Act regulations and transported to a police station. Mangaliso went to the station, instructed her foster daughter to leave police custody before arrest procedures were completed, and thereby interfered with colleagues’ duties, defeated the ends of justice, brought SAPS into disrepute, and breached lockdown regulations herself. An arbitrator found Mangaliso guilty of the misconduct but held that dismissal was procedurally and substantively unfair, reinstating her with a final written warning and limited backpay. SAPS applied to the Labour Court to review and set aside the arbitration award.

The review was partially successful. The finding that the dismissal was substantively unfair was reviewed and set aside and replaced with a finding that the dismissal was substantively fair. Reinstatement and backpay were set aside. SAPS was ordered to pay Mangaliso compensation equal to four months’ remuneration for procedural unfairness. No costs order was made.

The case reinforces the Sidumo principle that arbitrators may not replace the employer’s sanction with their own unless the dismissal decision is unreasonable. It emphasises the heightened seriousness of misconduct involving abuse of police authority and preferential treatment of arrestees. The judgment also affirms the importance of representation in disciplinary hearings and clarifies that while procedural unfairness does not invalidate a substantively fair dismissal, it may justify compensatory relief.