The grounds for review of CCMA awards

Abstract

The grounds for review of arbitration awards are stipulated in section 145 of the Labour Relations Act No 66 of 1995 (hereinafter the “LRA”). However, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (hereinafter the “CCMA”) is an organ of state and therefore bound by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa No 108 of 1996 (hereinafter the “1996 Constitution”). Therefore, the issuing of an arbitration award is bound by section 33 of the 1996 Constitution which requires that administrative should be lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. It is for this reason that the Constitutional Court (hereinafter the “CC”) in Sidumo & another v Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd [2007] 12 BLLR 1097 (CC) held that section 145 of the LRA is suffused by the constitutional standard of “reasonableness”. The CC in Sidumo subsequently confirmed that the standard of review is whether the decision reached by the CCMA commissioner is one that a reasonable decision-maker could not reach. This dissertation seeks to determine how this standard as laid down in Sidumo influenced the courts’ interpretation of the grounds for review and whether there is certainty by the courts on the interpretation of this test.