Toyota SA Motors (Pty) Limited v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and Others

Mr Makoma Makhotla, an employee of Toyota SA Motors since 2006, was absent from work between 28 February and 3 March 2011. He communicated his absence to a senior manager and sent an SMS to his supervisor, which was acknowledged. Upon his return, Toyota initiated disciplinary proceedings for absence without leave. Mr Makhotla resigned before the hearing concluded, but Toyota rejected the resignation and proceeded with discipline, ultimately dismissing him on 24 March 2011. The CCMA arbitrator found the dismissal substantively unfair and ordered reinstatement with six months’ back pay. Toyota launched a review application timeously but experienced difficulties due to an incomplete arbitration record supplied by the CCMA. Despite attempts at reconstruction, Toyota took no substantive steps to prosecute the review for approximately 18 months. The employees then applied to dismiss the review for delay, which the Labour Court granted, making the arbitration award an order of court. Leave to appeal was refused by the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court, leading to this application before the Constitutional Court.

Condonation for late filing of the statement of facts was granted, but leave to appeal was refused with costs, leaving the Labour Court’s dismissal of the review application and enforcement of the arbitration award intact.

The case underscores the constitutional and statutory imperative of expeditious resolution of labour disputes in South African law. It confirms that review applications under the LRA may be dismissed solely on the basis of unreasonable delay, even where record reconstruction difficulties exist, and affirms the Labour Court’s power to adopt a robust approach to prevent abuse of process.