LEGAL REPRESENTATION AT THE CCMA
By Omphulusa Shelton Mahandana
- Section 23(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (“the Constitution”), provides that everyone has the right to fair labour practices.
- One of the most frequent questions asked by the employers and employees in general is whether legal representation is allowed during the conciliation process, the answer to this question is usually no, legal representation is not allowed during conciliation proceedings.
- In terms of Rule 25 of the CCMA, legal representation is only allowed in arbitration proceedings. The party that wishes to have legal representation must bring an application for same or must get consent from the Commission and or the other party.
- It was decided in the case of Coetzee v Autohaus Centurion (case number: MPT27810, 18 February 2019) that legal representatives do not need to apply to be permitted to represent their clients at the CCMA or bargaining Council as representation is allowed by section 25(2) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, which was said to nullify rule 25 of the CCMA rules, this decision is subjected to debate.
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