EFF members protesting during the party’s national shutdown in Cape Town earlier this year. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)
THE EFF has successfully challenged the Labour Court ruling holding the party responsible for a violent protest at the Gordon Road Spar in Roodepoort, Johannesburg.
Labour Appeal Court (LAC) Judge President Basheer Waglay and Acting Judges Katharine Savage and Nyameko Gqamana overturned the rule nisi (interim order) issued in June 2021 that was confirmed against 11 individuals who were at the protest, but discharged it against the EFF.
”There is no dispute that the principal in the current context is the EFF as a voluntary association and national political party. With almost half a million members, the EFF’s highest decision-making body in terms of its constitution is its central command team.
“Neither individual members nor members holding local branch or regional leadership positions are entitled to act on behalf of the EFF without the necessary authorisation,” the LAC found.
According to the judgment handed down on August 17, there was no dispute that Sechaba Sono, local EFF branch official who was not cited in the application, sent a letter to Spar on the party’s letterhead and that correspondence was thereafter exchanged between Spar’s attorneys and the regional office.
The EFF maintained that Sono had been authorised to act on its behalf.
“The Labour Court was required to find that the EFF, as a voluntary association, had created an appearance or representation by words or conduct that Sono and/or his other EFF members involved in the protest action had authority to act as they did,” reads the ruling.
The judges found that there was no evidence of such appearance or representation having been made by the EFF nor one that the EFF should reasonably have expected that outsiders would act on the strength of and that would lead Spar reasonably to rely on such representation to its consequent prejudice.
“The fact that Spar wrote to the regional office of the EFF indicates that it was aware that higher authority within EFF structures may be called upon to intervene to halt the unlawful conduct of Sono and the protesters.
This gives credence to a finding that the EFF had not created an appearance or representation by words or conduct that Sono and/or other protesters had the authority to act on behalf of the EFF as they did,” states the judgment, adding that the Labour Court erred by finding differently.
The judgment continued: “It follows for these reasons that the appeal must succeed, that the final order issued against the EFF (be) discharged and the costs order of the Labour Court made against the EFF (be) set aside.
“The EFF would nevertheless be well advised to take appropriate steps to prevent future such unlawful conduct from arising.”
The protest started after a Spar employee was demoted from the position of floor manager to that of cashier in April 2021 and a month later Sono wrote a letter to the store asking to meet its management.
Spar later obtained an interim order from Labour Court Judge André van Niekerk on June 1, 2021 interdicting and restraining protesters from engaging in unlawful action which disrupted the business operations of Brightstone Trading 3 CC, trading as Gordon Road.
A few weeks later, Acting Judge Reghana Tulk confirmed the interim order in its entirety and ordered the EFF to pay the costs.
The EFF was ordered not to gather, barricade, block or generally restrict or prevent access to and from the Spar at Bergbron Shopping Centre in Roodepoort.
The party was also ordered to not physically or verbally, or in any other manner whatsoever, intimidate or harass and/or threaten the Spar’s employees, contractors, service providers, suppliers, customers or visitors.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
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