The Campaign to Scrap the Labour Law Amendment Bills met on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 to reflect on the promulgation of the new Code of Good Practice on Dismissal by the Minister of Employment and Labour on the 4th September.
The Minister promulgated the new Code without taking into account any written submissions, including that of the Campaign. This makes a mockery of public participation.
In response to the Minister’s request in January 2025 for written submissions, the Campaign, representing 30 organisations, provided a comprehensive response. Our submission strongly objected to the conservative and pro-employer provisions contained within the proposed new Code.
The Minister ignored the objections and made no changes to the Code. In fact, the Campaign received no feedback from the Minister regarding the reasons why the objections were not taken into consideration.
It is obvious the government has no regard for the voices of the organisations representing different sections of the working class. Why request written public comments, only to ignore them and proceed with the agenda of safeguarding the interest of the capitalist class.
For the Campaign it is clear that it was along the intention of the Minister to promulgate the pro-employer Code and her call for public comments was merely a tick-box exercise. Nevertheless, the new Code, whilst it contains pro-employer provisions, does not override the current law on dismissals.
To change the law on dismissal there has to be a parliamentary process including public hearings.
The current Code does not introduce or create new rights for employers that are not explicitly outlined in the Labour Relations Act or established through legal precedent.
The new Code is only a guide and cannot override the law on dismissal.
Whilst theoretically the new Code is only a guide, we however know from experience that some CCMA commissioners will be applying or interpreting the new Code as if it is law. This will essentially create new legal rights for bosses that don’t exist in actual law. This is one of the problems of having a Code of Good Practice that does not match the law.
To address this, the Campaign will be preparing a briefing for organisations that use the CCMA, capturing case law on the status of the new Code as merely a guide and not law.
The Campaign sees the promulgation of the new Code as representing a temporary political, not a legal, setback. The Campaign knows that the real battle still lies ahead.
The proposed amendments that attack the legal protections for workers against dismissal are still to be made public and are still to be subjected to a parliamentary process and public hearings. Here we are referring, for instance, to the proposed amendments where newly employed workers, during the first 3 months of their employment, would not have legal protection against unfair dismissals.
An employer would be able to dismiss a newly employed worker without any valid reason and without a disciplinary hearing.
The Campaign to Scrap the Labour Law Amendment Bills will continue the fight against the attacks on workers’ rights.
For more information contact the Campaign’s elected spokesperson: Patrick Mlaba – 073 377 9249
