Empact Group (Pty) Ltd v Natasha Moni N.O. and Others

Empact Group (Pty) Ltd brought an application for leave to appeal against an ex tempore judgment of the Labour Court delivered on 5 November 2024. In that judgment, the Labour Court had dismissed a review application concerning a CCMA commissioner’s refusal to rescind an arbitration award that was issued in Empact’s absence. The rescission application before the CCMA had been brief and failed to provide a full explanation for Empact’s default. Empact contended that service of the CCMA notice of set down was defective because it was sent to an email address that Empact allegedly had not chosen as its address for service, and further argued that the commissioner failed to properly consider its prospects of success.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

The judgment reinforces the strict approach taken by the Labour Court to applications for leave to appeal and clarifies the interpretation of CCMA Rule 5(1)(c) regarding service by email. It confirms that parties bear the onus of providing a full and reasonable explanation for default in rescission applications and that terse or inadequate explanations will not readily justify rescission or subsequent review.