‘City of Joburg 130’ dealt legal blow
THE 130 City of Joburg staffers, whose jobs were terminated after their permanent positions were reversed to fixed-term contracts that expired at the weekend, have been dealt a crushing blow.
The Labour Court said on Tuesday the applicants – the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the staffers if represented – had failed to show it had jurisdiction to preside over the matter.
In his judgment, delivered electronically owing to Covid-19, Judge Andre van Niekerk, said: “The applicants have been unable to point to any provision in the LRA or any other statute that confers jurisdiction in this court to determine the dispute that serves before the court”.
He added: “Whichever way one looks at the applicants’ pleaded cause of action, this court has no jurisdiction to enquire into the lawfulness of the termination of the employees’ contracts of employment, even less does it have jurisdiction to pronounce on the validity of a resolution adopted by a municipal council.
“The application thus stands to be struck from the roll for want of jurisdiction.”
The court did not make any cost order.
Commenting on the development, Samwu said it noted the judgment of the Labour Court.
“As the leadership of Samwu in the Johannesburg region, we have briefed our legal team to urgently read this judgment and advise on possible avenues available for the workers,” said Thobani Nkosi, regional secretary of Samwu Johannesburg.
“Samwu, being the only vanguard of workers in the City of Johannesburg, undertakes to explore any legal recourse in pursuit of justice.”
The city said it welcomed the ruling by the Labour Court “to dismiss” the case brought by Samwu “against the resolution made by the council to overturn the decision of the city’s previous ANC-led government to illegally convert the contracts of political staff from fixed-term to permanent.
In a statement issued after the ruling the city added: “This is a victory for our fight against corruption and demonstrates the firm commitment by the multi-party government to always uphold the rule of law.
“We have also reduced the former government’s bloated political offices to realise a saving of R80 million per annum which can be redirected towards service delivery for residents.
“We are now able to continue with the recruitment of new, qualified political staff on fixed-term contracts to ensure that we build a city of golden opportunities that works for all residents.”