Road Traffic Management Corporation v Tasima (Pty) Ltd

Tasima (Pty) Ltd was responsible for the development, operation and maintenance of the electronic National Traffic Information System (eNaTIS), which constituted its sole business and employed all its staff. Following a Constitutional Court order in 2015, the eNaTIS system was transferred to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). Although the RTMC took physical control of the system in April 2017, it refused to take transfer of Tasima’s employees. Tasima successfully obtained a declaratory order from the Labour Court that the employees’ contracts transferred automatically to the RTMC in terms of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act, a finding largely upheld on appeal. While the RTMC sought leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, Tasima brought an urgent application under section 18(3) of the Superior Courts Act to enforce the declaratory order pending appeal, seeking to compel RTMC to accept the employees and pay remuneration. The Labour Court (Prinsloo J) granted such interim relief, leading to this appeal under section 18(4).

The appeal in terms of section 18(4) of the Superior Courts Act was upheld. The Labour Court’s order granting interim relief was set aside and substituted with an order dismissing the section 18(3) application. Tasima was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.

The judgment clarifies the limited scope of section 18 of the Superior Courts Act in labour litigation, confirming that courts may not grant consequential or executory relief where the underlying order is purely declaratory. It reinforces the principle that suspension of orders pending appeal is the default position and that reversal under section 18(3) is exceptional and strictly circumscribed. The case is significant for section 197 transfer disputes and for procedural law governing interim execution pending appeal in the Labour Courts.