Public Servants League of South Africa and Others v Minister of Water Affairs (374/91) [1992] ZASCA 181 (28 September 1992)
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the dismissals of the second to fifteenth appellants by the Minister of Water Affairs were invalid because they were not afforded a hearing prior to termination. The respondent, as a public authority, was required to exercise its power to dismiss in accordance with the...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [1992] ZASCA 181
- Parties
- Appellant: Public Servants League of South Africa; Respondent: Minister of Water Affairs
- Court
- Supreme Court of Appeal
- Jurisdiction
- South Africa
- Case Number
- 374/91
- Procedural Posture
- Civil Appeal / Appeal From the Northern Cape Division
- Outcome
- Appeal of the second to fifteenth appellants upheld; dismissals declared null and void; costs order varied.
- Judges
- Hoexter, Kumleben, Goldstone, Nicholas, Howie
- Legal Topics
- Audi Alteram Partem, Public Power Exercise, Dismissal of Public Servants, Natural Justice
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Public Servants League of South Africa
Appellant
Minister of Water Affairs
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Appeal From the Northern Cape Division
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the second to fifteenth appellants were entitled to a hearing before dismissal by a public authority.
- 2 Whether the dismissals of the second to fifteenth appellants were null and void due to lack of procedural fairness.
- 3 Whether the first appellant should bear any costs despite abandoning its claim.
Ratio Decidendi
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the dismissals of the second to fifteenth appellants by the Minister of Water Affairs were invalid because they were not afforded a hearing prior to termination. The respondent, as a public authority, was required to exercise its power to dismiss in accordance with the principles of natural justice, specifically the audi alteram partem rule. The respondent conceded that the legal relationship was identical to that in the Sibiya case, where the absence of a hearing rendered the dismissals a nullity. Consequently, the appellants were entitled to substantive relief. The first appellant, having abandoned its claim for relief and costs in the lower court,...
Court Disposition
Appeal of the second to fifteenth appellants upheld; dismissals declared null and void; costs order varied.
Orders
- The respondent's purported dismissals of the second to fifteenth applicants from the service of the State in terms of letters of dismissal dated 12 June 1989 are declared null and void.
- The first applicant is ordered to pay its own costs.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
28 paragraphs
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA ( APPELLATE DIVISION )
CASE NO 374/91
In the matter between
THE PUBLIC SERVANTS LEAGUE OF SOUTHAFRICA AND 14 OTHERS AppellantsandTHE MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS Respondent
CORAM : HOEXTER, KUMLEBEN, GOLDSTONE, JJA et NICHOLAS, HOWIE, AJJA
DATE HEARD: 20 AUGUST 1992
DATE DELIVERED: 28 SEPTEMBER 1992
2
JUDGMENT
GOLDSTONE JA:The first appellant is the Public Servants League of South Africa. The other fourteen appellants, members of the first appellant, were employed by the Department of Water Affairs. The Respondent is the Minister responsible for that Department.The appellants sought an order in the Court a quo declaring that the dismissals on notice of the second to fifteenth appellants, by letters dated 12 June 1989, were null and void. They also sought an order setting aside the dismissals. Their application was dismissed with costs. The judgment by Steenkamp J is reported as Staatsdiensliga van Suid-Afrika en Andere v Minister van Waterwese 1990(2) SA 440(NC). As appears therefrom (at
3
442 H-J) the first appellant abandoned any claim for relief or for costs.I need refer to only one of the grounds relied upon by the second to fifteenth appellants, viz. that they were not afforded a hearing by their employer before they were dismissed.
In a judgment handed down in this Court on 20August 1992, in the case of Administrator of Natal andAnother v S A Sibiya and Another, Case No 100/91, it washeld that where an employer is a public authority adecision by it to dismiss an employee, whether on noticeor otherwise, involves the exercise of a public power.
Such a power has to be exercised regularly and in
accordance with the principles of natural justice
including the principle of audi alteram partem. As itwas put in the judgment:
"In the instant case a just and proper exercise of the power to dismiss involved an enquiry into the individual circumstances of each of
4 the workers whose retrenchment was being considered."
It was added that:
"... elementary fairness required that the respondents should have been accorded a hearing before the appellants took their decision to dismiss the respondents."
Counsel who appeared for the respondent properly conceded that the legal relationship between the second to fifteenth appellants and the respondent in the present case was no different from that which existed between the parties in the Sibiya case. They were not given a hearing before they were dismissed and on that account such dismissals were a nullity. It follows that on this ground they were entitled to the substantive relief claimed by them. It is unnecessary to consider the other grounds relied upon by the appellants in the Court a quo and in this Court.
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Although, as has already been mentioned, it abandoned any claim for relief and for costs in the Court a quo, the first appellant is a party to the present appeal. It has not sought any relief. It could hardly have done so in the light of the stance adopted by it in the lower court. This notwithstanding, counsel for the respondent submitted that the the first appellant's appeal should be dismissed with costs. In my judgment that submission should not be upheld. While the first appellant should not have been a party to the appeal, its nominal appearance has not resulted in any relevant additional or wasted costs.The appeal of the second to fifteenth appellants is upheld with costs. The order of the Court a quo is set aside and the following order is substituted therefor: "1. The respondent's purported dismissals of the
second to fifteenth applicants from the
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service of the State in terms of letters of dismissal dated 12 June 1989 are declared null and void. 2.(a) The first applicant is ordered to pay its own costs.
(b) The applicants are ordered, jointly and severally, to pay the respondent's wasted costs in respect of the appearances on 23 August 1989. (c) Save as set out in (b) above, the respondent is ordered to pay the costs of the second to fifteenth applicants."
R J GOLDSTONE JUDGE OF APPEAL HOEXTER JA) KUMLEBEN JA) NICHOLAS AJA) CONCUR HOWIE AJA)