By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Parliament’s portfolio committee on sport, arts and culture is concerned about the legal losses Boxing South Africa (BSA) suffered at the hands of Moffat Qithi, the boxing regulatory body’s former chief executive officer.
Qithi has clobbered BSA on all legal platforms with his most recent win over the boxing regulatory body being at the Labour Appeal Court in February this year.
“We spoke about the Qithi case. It was in their report. Even if it was not in their report we were going to ask them about it. This is an old case. We wanted to know more about the case,” chairperson of the portfolio committee on sport, arts and culture Beauty Dlulane said referring to their recent meeting with the BSA board.
“They said that they are trying to negotiate for an out-of-court settlement. It was a concern to us that they have lost the case on a number of times. It has since come to their understanding that this is an unwinnable case. We don’t think it is good for Mr Qithi as he is not at work whereas we have an unwinnable case. This is an injustice to him.”
Qithi said: “I have beaten them on all platforms. There are no negotiations. I have never had a meeting with the BSA board. It’s just that there are individuals who keep calling me privately, that’s not negotiations. Actually, what they are doing is unlawful.”
In February this year, the Labour Appeal Court denied BSA leave to appeal against the Labour Court’s November ruling on the Qithi case. BSA had petitioned the Labour Appeal Court after it lost against Qithi at the Labour Court in November last year.
The Labour Appeal Court said in its ruling in February: “The petition for leave to appeal is refused with no order as to costs.The refusal for leave to appeal signifies that this court is of the view that the intended appeal has no reasonable prospects of success.”
Qithi had opposed BSA’s appeal on the ruling Labour Court Judge Portia Nkutha-Nkontwana delivered in November. Nkutha-Nkontwana dismissed BSA’s appeal to review a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) ruling, which had ruled in his favour after BSA dismissed him as its CEO in 2015.
Delivering her judgment last November, Nkutha-Nkontwana said: “Seven years have passed since the time Mr Qithi was dismissed and this matter is yet to be finalised. Mr Qithi, the vulnerable party, is still unemployed and held hostage by the party who had approached this Court on an unmeritorious review application.”
Qithi won his case against BSA on 17 December 2018 and the CCMA ordered that he be paid R3,9 million plus interest and also be reinstated as CEO. That never happened as the then BSA board applied for the review of the CCMA ruling on 1 February 2019 – the last day of the six weeks provided for in Section 145 of the Labour Relations Act.
