Article 44/2022

Under what circumstances should contempt of court proceedings be utilised instead of having a writ issued?

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Section 163 of the LRA provides that judgments and orders of the labour court may be executed as if they were judgments or orders of the high court.  Before steps are taken by a judgment creditor to sue out a writ of execution in satisfaction of the judgment in his favour, it has to be ascertained whether the judgment was in a form allowing enforcement by means of a writ.  In the case of a judgment ad pecuniam solvendam (directing the judgment debtor to pay a sum of money), it is appropriate to seek its enforcement by means of a writ of execution.  On the other hand, in the case of a judgment ad factum praestandum, an order is enforceable by means of contempt proceedings (Hendor (CC) clearly established that an order of retrospective payment of remuneration is an order ad factum praestandum, enforceable by means of contempt of court proceedings).

September 5, 2024

In assessing if reinstatement is fitting after CCMA deems dismissal in a fixed-term contract unfair, what factors guide this determination?

August 29, 2024

Is a binding agreement between a retrenching employer and the alternative employer required for the above section to be applicable and what role does the retrenching employer have to play in arranging alternative employment for such section to be applicable?

August 22, 2024

An accountant at a municipality faced dismissal for attempting to access the account. Reinstated after appealing to the bargaining council, new charges of dishonesty and IT policy breach led to another dismissal.