Samancor Chrome Limited v NUMSA obo Portia Mokoena and Others

Portia Mokoena was employed by Samancor Chrome Limited as a Human Resources Practitioner from April 2015. In May 2019 she lodged a grievance against a colleague, Mr Shabangu, after he asked about her child’s illness. Prior to the grievance hearing, Mokoena allegedly approached two contract cleaners, Ms Mahlangu and Ms Hamule, requesting them to give false testimony in support of her grievance and promising something in return. The employer investigated and charged her with dishonesty for attempting to procure false evidence. After multiple postponements of the disciplinary hearing due to Mokoena’s non‑attendance, the hearing proceeded in her absence and she was dismissed in January 2020. An arbitrator of the MEIBC found the dismissal substantively and procedurally unfair and ordered reinstatement with back pay. Samancor applied to the Labour Court to review and set aside the arbitration award.

The arbitration award was reviewed and set aside. (The judgment indicates the award could not stand due to gross irregularity; the matter was to be remitted for reconsideration by a different commissioner.)

The case reaffirms the Labour Court’s review powers under section 145 of the LRA and underscores that commissioners must consider all material evidence and properly resolve factual disputes using credibility, reliability and probability assessments. Failure to do so amounts to a gross irregularity rendering an award reviewable.