Goliath v Rocklands Poultry Loss Control / Sovereign Foods

The applicant, Mr Graham Goliath, commenced employment with the respondent on 31 October 2010 and was dismissed on 12 May 2011. He referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA, initially citing another entity as employer. The respondent was subsequently joined by a CCMA joinder ruling dated 21 September 2011. An arbitration award issued on 13 February 2012 found the dismissal procedurally and substantively unfair, declared the respondent to be the true employer, and ordered retrospective reinstatement and back pay. The respondent paid the back pay about two years later but failed to reinstate the applicant. The award was never taken on review. In 2015, the applicant applied to the Labour Court under section 158(1)(c) of the LRA to make the award an order of court. The respondent opposed the application on prescription and non-joinder grounds.

The arbitration award dated 13 February 2012 was made an order of the Labour Court. The respondent was ordered to pay the applicant’s costs.

The case confirms and applies post-Myathaza and Gaoshubelwe jurisprudence that arbitration awards for reinstatement constitute debts subject to the Prescription Act and that unreviewed arbitration awards give rise to a 30-year prescription period. It also reinforces the binding effect of CCMA joinder rulings and arbitration awards unless reviewed, clarifying Labour Court jurisdiction in enforcement proceedings.