Cape Town City Football Club lost its legal bid to review and set aside an earlier order that it had to pay midfielder Mpho Matsi R3.6 million following the termination of his employment contract.
Matsi was a central midfielder football player when the club, in 2020, terminated his contract on the grounds of operational requirements in terms of the Labour Relations Act for financial reasons.
Matsi referred a dispute to the Dispute Resolution Chamber at the National Soccer League (DRC). He claimed that the contract of employment was terminated unlawfully and that the dismissal was substantively and procedurally unfair.
The DRC handed down its decision dismissing the claim and concluded the dismissal was substantively and procedurally fair.
Unhappy with this, Matsi submitted a notice of arbitration to the South African Football Association (SAFA) to appeal the correctness of the DRC's decision. The decision of the DRC was subsequently set aside and replaced with an order that the termination of the employment contract was without just cause and unlawful, and in breach of the employment contract.
The club was ordered to pay Matsi R3 630 000.
It now turned to the Labour Court, sitting in Johannesburg to have this ruling overturned.
The club argued that the arbitrator misconducted himself, exceeded his powers or committed a gross irregularity in finding that the dismissal of Matsi was unlawful.
It was submitted by the club that the arbitrator misconstrued his powers by determining the lawfulness of the retrenchment rather than fairness and, by doing so, committed a latent gross irregularity and exceeded his powers.
But Acting Judge T Venter commented that nothing in the pleadings or arguments suggests that the arbitrator engaged in improper conduct or acted with any malfeasance or dishonesty.
The arbitrator earlier concluded that no selection criteria were discussed with the player) and that they never offered him any alternatives to termination of his contract.
The Arbitrator stated that the club failed to place any evidence before the DRC to prove that it was in financial distress, which led to the premature termination of the contract.
In an earlier finding in favour of Matsi, the arbitrator concluded that the premature termination of his contract was unlawful and that financial reasons were not an excuse.
Judge Venter, in turning down the review, said the arbitrator's findings not only did not misconstrue the facts before him, but his findings seem eminently reasonable considering the submissions before him.
Pretoria News