- Title
- Statutory conciliation as a labour-dispute-resolution mechanism
- Creator
- Masaya, Ruvimbo Cheryl
- Subject
- Labor disputes -- South Africa
- Subject
- South Africa. -- Labour Relations Act, 1995
- Subject
- Labor -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Subject
- Industrial relations -- South Africa South Africa. -- Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration
- Date Issued
- 2024-04
- Date
- 2024-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/65701
- Identifier
- vital:74229
- Description
- South African labour dispute resolution is a product of the country’s problematic past which was based on inequality and division. The new political dispensation led to the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in 1996, which enshrined a variety of basic human rights for all people within the Republic. Amongst these rights was section 23, which provided for and still protects the right to fair labour practices for all. In order to further give effect to this right, the Labour Relations Act was promulgated, with section 112 of the Act establishing the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (hereafter referred to as the CCMA). One of the main mandatory functions of the CCMA is that of statutory conciliation. Statutory conciliation must also be performed by any other accredited bodies such as bargaining councils. The term statutory conciliation refers to a process that occurs under the direction of an impartial third party where parties to a dispute endeavour to reach an agreement in order to settle the dispute. The process is without prejudice and proceedings are intended to help the parties find an amicable solution. It can be a very powerful tool to settle disputes in the labour law context where there are disputes between employers and employees where internal procedures have been exhausted and a deadlock has been reached. Statutory conciliation is the first step where a case has been referred to the CCMA. According to the CCMA, 3 844 169 cases have been referred to it since its establishment in 1996.1 In the 2021/22 financial year thus far, the number of case referrals to the CCMA sits at 156 777, a reflection of how well utilised the mechanism is. The main aim of this treatise is to explore the role of statutory conciliation as a mechanism of labour dispute resolution. The history and development of labour dispute resolution in South Africa will be examined; briefly followed by an explanation of the process of conciliation. The treatise will also consider the limitations of the process of statutory conciliation, as the process is not immune to abuse by parties. Since the advent of the Labour Relations Act, the courts have had to consider various aspects of conciliation, in particular concerning the confidentiality of the process and whether a commissioner may be compelled to testify on the conciliation process at arbitration or the Labour Court. In addition, the ambit of the conciliation commissioner’s functions and powers will also be considered.
- Description
- Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Department of Mercantile law, 2024
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (85 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Law
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
NMU Department of Mercantile Law
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | MASAYA RC 20240312 April 2024.pdf | 1000 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |