Chirwa v Transnet Limited and Others

The applicant, Ms Petronella Nellie Nelisiwe Chirwa, was employed by Transnet Limited as a Human Resources Executive Manager within the Transnet Pension Fund business unit. Following a deteriorating relationship with her supervisor, Mr Patrick Ian Smith, she was subjected to disciplinary proceedings for alleged poor performance, incompetence and poor employee relations. Ms Chirwa refused to participate in the enquiry on the basis that Mr Smith acted as complainant, witness and presiding officer. She was dismissed on 22 November 2002. After referring an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA and receiving a certificate of non-resolution, she did not proceed to arbitration under the Labour Relations Act (LRA). Instead, she approached the High Court seeking to have her dismissal reviewed and set aside, relying on principles of administrative justice and natural justice, alternatively under PAJA.

Leave to appeal was granted. The appeal was upheld. The orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal were set aside, and Ms Chirwa’s application was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

This case is a leading authority on the relationship between labour law and administrative law in South Africa. It clarified that public sector dismissals are generally not reviewable under PAJA and that the LRA provides the primary and preferred framework for resolving unfair dismissal disputes. The judgment reinforced the exclusive or primary role of labour fora and limited the ability of employees to forum-shop by framing labour disputes as constitutional or administrative law claims.