Judgement reserved in SABC Labour Court case
Judgement in the case of four former SABC journalists, dismissed without a disciplinary hearing, has been reserved until Monday.
The matter was heard in the Labour Court on Friday.
Solidarity asked the Labour Court to set aside the disciplinary action and dismissals of eight SABC journalists.
Steve Budlender who represented four of the so-called SABC8 said the public broadcaster has no grounds to justify its decision to dismiss the journalists.
The journalists were dismissed after criticising the SABC's decision to ban the broadcasting of destruction of property during violent protests.
Advocate Steven Budlender said: "The SABC's stance of defending the journalists is inexplicable. It suspends the journalists on the basis that they refused to comply with a reasonable and lawful instruction. It now accepts Icasa's decision which says that the instruction was not lawful at all and declares it invalid with retrospective effect and yet it still says the journalists committed a wrong."
However, SABC lawyers argued that the journalists should have approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Advocate Themba Skosana argued: "The Labour Court does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate an unresolved dispute if the Labour Relations Act or any employment law requires the dispute to be resolved through arbitration."