IN THE LABOUR COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG
Not Reportable
Case No: JS196/17
In the matter between:
UCIMESHAWU obo KHOZA AGRINETH Applicant
and
COMMISSION FOR CONCILIATION
MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION First Respondent
COMMISSIONER SARAH MODISE Second Respondent
PHUMELELA GAMING AND LEISURE Third Respondent
Decided: In Chambers
Delivered: This judgment was handed down electronically by circulation to the
parties' representatives through email. The hand- down date is deemed to be 2 7
November 2025.
_____________________________________________________________________
JUDGMENT: LEAVE TO APPEAL
MAKOELE, AJ
Introduction
[1] The Applicant brought an application for leave to appeal against the judgment
and order granted by me on 29 November 2024. The third Respondent opposed
the application.
2
[2] Section 166(1) of the Labour Relations Act1 (LRA) provides for a party to
proceedings before the Labour Court to apply to the Labour Court for leave to
appeal to the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) against any final judgment or final order
of the Labour Court. The test for the granting of leave to appeal pertinent to the
present matter is set out in section 17(1) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 as
follows:
‘Leave to appeal may only be given where the judge or judges are of the opinion
that–
(a) (i) the appeal would have a reasonable prospect of success; or
(ii) there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be
heard, including conflicting judgments on the matter under
consideration;
(b) The decision sought on appeal does not fall within the ambit of section
16(2)(a); and
(c) where the decision sought to be appealed does not dispose of all the
issues in the case, the appeal would lead to a just and prompt resolution
of the real issue between the parties.’
[3] The Applicant relies on a fax transmission in alleging that the statement of case
was filed on time. Firstly, Rule 5(3) of the Labour court rules states:
‘The original document must be lodged with the registrar. In the case of filing by
faxing the document, the original document must be lodged within 5 days of it
being faxed.’
[4] The original document was lodged in August 2020. Secondly, there is no
indication that the court documents in the court file were missing. The only
explanation from the Applicant is that she filed copies of her personal file after
she was informed that the union’s file was lost during the moving of the offices.
1 Act 66 of 1995, as amended.
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[5] Considering the grounds of appeal, my judgment and the parties’ submissions, I
am not persuaded that another Court would come to a different conclusion or that
there is some other compelling reason why leave to appeal should be granted.
[6] In the circumstances, I make the following order:
Order
1. The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
2. There is no order as to costs.
_______________________
R. Makoele
Acting Judge of the Labour Court of South Africa