Employees exposing themselves to COVID-19

Automatically unfair dismissal for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine? The Labour Court’s first decision

The law regarding automatically unfair dismissals is trite and has been tested by our courts on various occasions. Recently, however, in the case of Burton Maasdorp v University of Free State JS647/2022 , the Labour Court handed down the first decision regarding an automatically unfair dismissal claim resulting from an employee’s refusal to adhere to a workplace COVID-19 vaccination policy. 

Taking liberties: Unmasking of an employee’s sick leave trickery

In the recent judgment of SARS v Benneth Mathebula and Others (JR 2243/21) ZALCJHB 222 (21 July 2023) the Labour Court was called upon to reconsider the fairness, or otherwise, of Mr Mathebula’s dismissal from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) due to his dishonesty regarding his sick leave.

Striking the balance: The correct approach to competing public interest considerations

The Competition Amendment Act 18 of 2018 (Amendment Act), was signed into law on 13 February 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa. It made several significant amendments to the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (Competition Act), one of which was the amendment of section 12A by the addition of a paragraph (e) in subsection (3). This paragraph directs the competition authorities, when considering whether a merger can or cannot be justified on public interest grounds, to consider the effect that the merger will have on “ the promotion of a greater spread of ownership, in particular to increase the levels of ownership by historically disadvantaged persons and workers in firms in the market ”.

'Rethinking Whistleblowing in African Corporate Governance: Building Trust, Ethical Culture, and Effectiveness’.

Flipping the script: When is a tax debt actually established?

Can the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) set off a company’s tax liability against its value-added tax (VAT) refunds due to that company, in circumstances where the tax liability concerns a period prior to the company entering business rescue, but was only determined / quantified after the company had already entered into business rescue? This was the question that was before the High Court in Johannesburg in the matter of Henque 3935 CC t/a PQ Clothing Outlet v Commissioner for SARS (2020/35790) ZAGPJHC 186.

What do we need to do to make e-mobility a reality in Africa?

Investment in the automotive industry in Africa is on the rise as the world races to achieve Net Zero by 2050.