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Contractual rights and procedural fairness in disciplinary process

In Mpembe v University of Zululand and Others (2025/248322) ZALCD 49, the Labour Court urgently intervened in ongoing disciplinary proceedings after the employer converted an adversarial hearing into a “paper hearing”. The judgment clarifies the limits of procedural flexibility where a disciplinary code is incorporated into the contract of employment. It confirms that employers who contract for a formal process must honour that agreement, including oral evidence and cross‑examination, and that convenience or speed cannot justify unilateral deviation.