South African Broadcasting Corporation (SOC) Limited and Others v Mkhize and Another

The first respondent, Ayanda Mkhize, was dismissed for misconduct by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SOC) Limited on 17 October 2018. She referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA, with arbitration scheduled for 21 August 2019. Prior to the arbitration, the CCMA’s senior convening commissioner issued subpoenas in terms of section 142 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) compelling four senior SABC officials to attend the arbitration and produce documents. The applicants approached the Labour Court seeking to have the subpoenas set aside, contending that they constituted an abuse of process and were prejudicial, particularly given the seniority of some of the subpoenaed officials. It was common cause that all procedural requirements under the LRA and CCMA Rule 37 had been complied with.

The application to set aside the CCMA subpoenas was dismissed with costs.

The judgment clarifies the limits of the Labour Court’s jurisdiction in relation to interlocutory decisions of the CCMA, particularly the issuing of subpoenas. It confirms that there is no general supervisory power over CCMA processes and that intervention is only permissible on established review grounds. The case reinforces the autonomy of CCMA arbitration proceedings and the role of commissioners in managing and preventing abuse of process.