South African Broadcasting Corporation (SOC) Limited v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and Others

The third respondent, an employee of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was dismissed on 17 October 2018 for misconduct. She referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA. The SABC raised a jurisdictional objection, contending that it had elected to treat the employee’s conduct as a breach of contract rather than misconduct, with the result that the CCMA lacked jurisdiction to determine fairness. A CCMA commissioner ruled that the CCMA had at least provisional jurisdiction and could determine jurisdiction after hearing evidence. Dissatisfied, the SABC launched a review application against that ruling and, pending its finalisation, brought an urgent application to the Labour Court to stay the CCMA arbitration proceedings.

The application to stay the CCMA arbitration proceedings was dismissed. A provisional order was made that the SABC’s attorneys pay the employee’s costs de bonis propriis on an attorney-and-client scale, with the attorneys afforded seven days to make submissions as to why the order should not be confirmed.

The case reaffirms that employers cannot avoid the CCMA’s jurisdiction or the statutory unfair dismissal regime by framing a dismissal as a contractual termination. It underscores the strong legislative policy against piecemeal reviews under section 158(1B) of the LRA and highlights the Labour Court’s intolerance of dilatory and abusive litigation tactics in labour disputes. The judgment also illustrates the circumstances in which punitive costs orders, including de bonis propriis orders against legal representatives, may be justified.