Court gives gov't ultimatum on DIS dispute
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday February 11, 2026 12:23
The ultimatum comes after the government failed to comply with a long-running court order requiring payment of salary back pay to the 406 agents.
'The order being specific as to the period of compliance, which was immediately upon the court order. The defendants have failed to comply with the court order upon receipt. Now, therefore, a report is hereby made by the court to the government, calling it to comply with the said order within three months from the making of the report,' reads the report.
According to the order and report issued by Senior Assistant Registrar Mmoloki Sibanda on February 4, 2026, the government is to comply or face further legal steps.
The back and forth from the agents and their employer DIS is a result of a case brought by Pelotshweu Masilomangwe and 405 other officers who were employed by DIS.
The officers claimed the government, through the DIS and the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM), unlawfully refused to pay them salary back pay dating back years.
They argued that existing government directives and savingrams required that their salaries be back-dated and paid, but the authorities failed to act.
In June 2024, the High Court, through Justice Zein Kebonang, ruled against the government and held that the decision not to pay the officers their back pay was unlawful because it did not apply the required back-dated payments properly.
The judge at the time found the refusal to be contrary to the relevant directives and principles and ordered the government to pay the outstanding amounts.
Although the government and the DIS sought to challenge the judgment, including filing a rescission application in mid-2024 seeking to set aside the judgment on technical grounds, these efforts were unsuccessful. The appeal was dismissed, and courts reaffirmed the officers’ entitlement to back pay.
Despite the rulings, the defendants allegedly failed to implement the order, even going as far as saying they wanted to seek clarity on the order.
As a result, the High Court, acting under Section 7 of the State Proceedings Act, issued a report to the government noting the government's failure to comply with the June 2024 order shortly after it was issued and calling upon the State to “make good the said order” within three months of the report.
'If the government does not comply within this time, the plaintiffs have reserved the right to return to court to enforce the order and seek costs against the respondents,' reads the order.
The defendants in the case are the Attorney General, the Director of DPSM, and DIS as the first, second, and third respondents respectively, and the dispute has been long-running, with some of DIS employees complaining about the long delay in receiving their legally-mandated back pay, some claims dating back to as early as 2001.
Meanwhile, the latest court report is the last attempt by the court to emphasise the seriousness of enforcing judgments and underlines the legal expectation that court orders must be complied with promptly, regardless of which government agency is involved.