BusinessLive reports that a protracted battle is playing itself out between 22 dismissed employees and their employer at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The matter between the employees and the SA Council for Education (SACE) has been before the CCMA a total of nine times since 2019. The case relates to employees having dual union membership. SACE is a professional council for educators. According to Mxo Khumalo, chair of the Liberated Public Sector Workers Union (Salipswu) at SACE, the problems of the dismissed employees started when they left the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) to join Salipswu. The subsequent twists and turns over union membership and recognition are set out in the BusinessLive report. The 22 were dismissed in July 2019 and approached the CCMA in October 2019 to challenge what they described as “unlawful dismissals”. Khumalo said their case has been passed from one CCMA commissioner to another for years on end. “Our case has been delayed by more than eight commissioners, they keep passing the buck from one commissioner to another and recusing themselves from our case. We think there is something behind this, I mean what’s difficult to sit down and arbitrate on this matter?” Khumalo asked. The last hearing took place from 1 to 5 March but the presiding commissioner “recused herself on the fifth day of the hearing citing that the case was to be handled by a senior commissioner”. CCMA director Cameron Morajane refuted the allegations of “any form of negligence in the administration of this dispute”. When asked why it had taken so long to finalise the case, he said: “Numerous jurisdictional points and applications have been brought by the employer party during the course of the arbitration sittings.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive

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