Gov’t not complying with 11 court judgments
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:26
Answering a question in Parliament recently, he revealed that the reasons for the non-compliance are due to a number of reasons. They vary from unavailability of funds, ambiguity in the court order, death of the employee, or the employer still awaiting verification of employment details from the employee and complexities in computing the judgment debts, especially in cases involving many litigants such as multiple grading and titling cases. The minister, however, said reaching out to the beneficiaries of some of these judgments for discussions has been one of the ways by which government attempts implementation. “The causes of action in these matters range from unfair dismissals, promotion and progression, multiple grading, scarce skills allowance, acting allowance, delinking, breach of employment contract, transfers, subsistence and overtime issues,” he told Parliament.
Ramaotwana was responding to a question from Kanye West legislator Victor Phologolo who had asked, amongst others, the number of judgments that went against those the government had failed to comply with in the past 10 years. “The recent audit carried out by the Attorney General's division dealing with civil cases has revealed that in the last 10 years, there were a total of 212 judgments (68 reported and 144 unreported) relating to labour matters in which the government was a party. “Of the 212 judgments delivered in the last 10 years, 116 (54.7%) were in favour of the government, whilst 96 (45.3%) were against the government,” the minister further disclosed.
Ramaotwana also revealed that of the 144 unreported judgments, 77 (53.5%) were in favour of the government, whilst 67 (46.5%) were judgments against the government. Concerning the 68 reported judgments, 39 (57.3%), he said, were in favour of the government, whilst 29 (42.6%) were against the government. “Overall, in the last 10 years of the 212 judgments, 54.7% have been in favour of the government whilst 45.2% were against government,” he said.