By Monwabisi Jimlongo
After the Labour Appeal Court denied Boxing South Africa (BSA) leave to appeal against the Labour Court’s November ruling on the matter of Moffat Qithi, the boxing regulatory body is considering taking the matter to the Constitutional Court, Ink Sport has learnt.
Qithi scored yet another victory against BSA after the Labour Appeal Court of South Africa denied the regulatory body leave to apppeal on Friday last week. BSA had petitioned the Labour Appeal Court after it lost against Qithi at the Labour Court in November last year.
“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,” the Labour Appeal Court said in its ruling on Friday.
Contacted for comment on Monday, BSA spokesperson Dr Azwitamisi Nthangeni said: “BSA will release a statement this afternoon.”
Qithi, who has won many times against the boxing regulatory body, 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 Qithi’s favour after he was dismissed 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.
Judge Nkutha-Nkontwana added in her November ruling: “Accordingly, I am not persuaded that there is a reasonable prospect that the factual matrix in this case might receive a different treatment at the appeal. Put differently, the applicant has failed to make a case that another Court might reasonably arrive at a decision different to the one reached by this Court. Yet, I am not inclined to award costs against the applicant. In the circumstances, the leave to appeal application is dismissed with no order to costs.”
