- The agency sought to invalidate Botsang Moiloa’s appointments after dismissing him in November 2022.
- The CCMA found his dismissal unfair and ordered his reinstatement.
- The Labour Appeal Court overturned the ruling against Moiloa, but the agency’s challenge to his reinstatement remains unresolved.
The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency could not challenge the validity of Botsang Moiloa’s appointments after terminating his employment through dismissal, the Labour Appeal Court has ruled.
The judgment, delivered on 16 October 2026, sets aside a Labour Court order declaring his appointments and employment contracts invalid. The agency’s separate application to overturn the reinstatement award must still be decided.
Moiloa was appointed Executive Facilitation on a six-month contract in May 2010. In February 2011, he was appointed Senior Manager Facilitation. He relied on a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in support of both appointments. UNISA withdrew the qualification in 2013 after investigating allegations that some modules had been written without invigilation.
Moiloa subsequently faced disciplinary proceedings over allegations that he had misrepresented his qualifications and failed to disclose interests in a company. The disciplinary chairperson found him not guilty of misrepresenting his qualifications but guilty of failing to disclose his business interests. He was dismissed in November 2022.
Moiloa referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). On 12 July 2023, Commissioner James Matshekga found the dismissal unfair and ordered the agency to reinstate him to the same or a similar position on the same or similar terms and conditions.
The agency then approached the Labour Court to have Moiloa’s appointments declared invalid. In June 2025, the Labour Court granted the application and set aside his appointments and employment contracts. However, it did not determine the agency’s separate challenge to the CCMA award.
Appeal court overturns the order
Moiloa appealed against the Labour Court’s decision. Acting Judge GN Moshoana, writing for the majority, found that the dismissal had terminated Moiloa’s employment contract and brought his appointments to an end. The agency could not seek to invalidate appointments that no longer existed.
The majority held that the agency had to pursue its challenge to the reinstatement award through the appropriate legal process under Section 145 of the Labour Relations Act. Because the award had not been set aside, it remained valid and enforceable.
The majority also found that the Labour Court lacked the power to entertain the agency’s legality review under Section 158(1)(h) of the Act, holding that the agency was not the State as contemplated by that provision.
Acting Judge N Gqamana disagreed with the majority’s interpretation, finding that the provision included organs of state such as the agency. However, he agreed that the Labour Court order had to be set aside because the employment relationship had already ended.
Reinstatement dispute remains unresolved
The Labour Appeal Court upheld Moiloa’s appeal and set aside the Labour Court order in its entirety. It dismissed the agency’s applications to have the appointments declared invalid, with no order as to costs. The separate application to review and set aside the CCMA reinstatement award was remitted to the Labour Court for determination by another judge.
The appeal court did not decide whether the reinstatement award should ultimately be set aside.
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