The respondent, Ms Zandile Queen Mabuza, a nurse employed by the Mpumalanga Department of Health, acted as Deputy Manager: Nursing since 2005. A settlement agreement concluded in August 2009 during arbitration provided for the translation of certain nurses to higher salary notches. When the respondent was not translated to the appropriate salary notch (PN‑A8), she referred an unfair labour practice dispute to the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council on 11 September 2010. An arbitration award dated 30 September 2010 found that the failure to translate her amounted to an unfair labour practice and ordered her translation with effect from 1 July 2007. The award was not complied with. In 2013 the respondent sought certification of the award and later approached the Labour Court to make the award an order of court and to pursue contempt proceedings. The Labour Court made the award an order of court against all appellants. The appellants appealed to the Labour Appeal Court.
The appeal was upheld in respect of the first and third appellants (Minister of Health and National Department of Health), and the order against them was set aside. The appeal was dismissed in respect of the second and fourth appellants (MEC for Health, Mpumalanga, and Mpumalanga Department of Health). The arbitration award remained enforceable against the latter.
This judgment clarifies that unfair labour practice claims, including those relating to promotion, constitute debts subject to the Prescription Act. It confirms the applicability of the Constitutional Court’s decision in Gaoshubelwe to unfair labour practices and not only unfair dismissals. The case is significant for confirming that certification of an arbitration award does not interrupt prescription and that an unreviewed arbitration award gives rise to a 30‑year prescription period as a judgment debt.