Inxuba Yethemba Municipality v Msweli and Others

The Inxuba Yethemba Municipality reviewed and set aside an arbitration award issued under the auspices of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council. The arbitrator (Third Respondent) had found the First Respondent, the municipal manager, guilty of serious financial misconduct relating to an irregular appointment worth millions of rands, but nonetheless held that dismissal was an unfair sanction and ordered reinstatement. On review, the Labour Court set aside the award, finding that the arbitrator committed material errors of law and fact and adopted an unreasonably lenient approach to sanction. The present judgment concerns the First Respondent’s application for leave to appeal against that review judgment.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed. No order as to costs was made.

The case reaffirms the Sidumo reasonableness standard in review proceedings and underscores that arbitration awards imposing disproportionately lenient sanctions for serious misconduct, particularly in the public sector, are vulnerable to review. It also highlights the Labour Court’s willingness, in the interests of finality and expedition under the Labour Relations Act, to substitute its own decision rather than remit matters where no purpose would be served by further delay.