SABC holds fire after damning judgment

Although the Labour Court handed the SABC an emphatic defeat yesterday, ruling the broadcaster had not only breached its contracts with the four journalists it had fired but also their right to freedom of expression, it is still not clear whether they will be allowed back into the building today despite the court ordering that they be allowed to return to work immediately, notes Legalbrief. The four were fired for objecting to the SABC’s ban on the broadcast of violent protests showing the destruction of public property. The reinstated journalists – Foeta Krige, Suna Venter, Krivani Pillay and Jacques Steenkamp – hope to return to work today, says a BDlive report. ‘The question will be, will we be allowed to go back because obviously the SABC can appeal and they can keep us outside until the appeal is heard,’ Steenkamp said. Labour Court Judge Robert Lagrange, in a judgment read on his behalf by Judge Andre van Niekerk, found the journalists’ dismissals to be invalid as they breached their contracts of employment, which entitled them to a formal hearing before being fired. SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago would not comment on the judgment or say whether the journalists would be allowed back into the building today. ‘We (are) still studying the judgment. We not going to comment until we know what the way forward will be.’ Trade union Solidarity, which represented the four journalists, said the SABC had to adhere to the judgment otherwise it would be in contempt of court. ‘The order is quite clear. If the SABC does not adhere to this specific order … we will then definitely go back to court,’ CE Dirk Hermann said.

Solidarity and Others v South African Broadcasting Corporation (J1343/16) [2016] ZALCJHB 273 (26 July 2016)