Article 50/2025

The scenario is as follows: in terms of a collective agreement between an employers’ organisation and various trade unions, provision is made for the accreditation of medical schemes by the relevant bargaining council, so that employees may enjoy the benefits of selecting and joining a scheme to which their employers contribute. The marketing of the various schemes, in the period before the employees make a selection, secures competition between the various schemes to enhance informed choices by the employees.

The supreme court of appeal, in SA Municipal Workers Union National Medical Scheme v City of Ekurhuleni and Others (2024) 35 SALLR 133 (SCA), had to deal with the above scenario and the interference by a third party, namely, the City of Ekurhuleni, in such relationship.

What are some of the more important principles to be identified governing the said scenario?
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The SCA, in City of Ekurhuleni (supra), adopted the following approach:

  1. the first issue to be decided was whether or not such collective agreement may be a contract for the benefit of a third party;
  2. with reference to Total SA (Pty) Ltd v Bekker NO 1992 (1) SA 917 (A), the SCA in casu held that such collective agreement could not constitute a stipulatio alteri – the relevant medical scheme was not a party to such collective agreement in terms of s213 of the LRA and, furthermore, such collective agreement was not extended to such non-party in terms of s32 of the LRA;
  3. however, the SCA in casu indicated that the accreditation that occurred in terms of the collective agreement by the relevant bargaining council constitutes an agreement giving rise to rights and obligations of the various medical schemes;
  4. with reference to Lanco Engineering CC v Aris Box Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd 1993 (4) SA 378 (D), Masstores (Pty) Ltd v Pick ‘n Pay Retailers (Pty) Ltd 2017 (1) SA 613 (CC) and Country Cloud Trading CC v MEC, Department of Infrastructure Development 2015 (1) SA 1 (CC), the court held that the interference by the City of Ekurhuleni constituted the delict of unlawful interference with the aforementioned contractual relations.
September 2, 2025

What alternative claim(s) exist in delict to a statutory automatically unfair dismissal, a statutory constructive dismissal and a statutory unfair discrimination claim?

August 26, 2025

The labour court is afforded jurisdiction ito s77(1), read with ss77(3), of the BCEA to hear and determine any matter concerning a contract of employment, irrespective of whether a basic condition of employment constitutes a term of contract.

August 22, 2025

The labour court has stated ad nauseam that its jurisdiction does not extend to all labour matters and that an applicant must necessarily identify the statutory provision(s) that confers jurisdiction on the labour court in the matter concerned.