Mapalo is concerned about the number of cases lost at CCMA
By Siyamthanda KaNyambane
A former CCMA commissioner has lifted the lid on why so many employees lose their cases at the tribunal.
Mapalo Tsatsimpe (55) has been an accredited Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) commissioner for more than two decades.
And she has served on a number of bargaining councils. She, through her book, #Mediation, shares with and empowers the nation.
She stresses the importance of mediation. Mapalo has written a book. Her book addresses, among others, matters that the parties should do if they wish to be successful in mediation
And those that they should avoid. Many conflicts could, she says, have been avoided if conciliation was properly understood and applied.
And if it was used to prevent conflicts from becoming disputes in the work place.
“The Marikana massacre is a classic example… And I believe that disputes (conflicts that could not be prevented from becoming disputes) could have been prevented if mediation was understood.
“Having been a mediator for more than two decades, I have observed how ordinary citizens have become vulnerable to losing cases at the CCMA and bargaining councils.
“This happens for various reasons which are sometimes beyond their control,” says Mapalo, a married Johannesburg mother of two.
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She touches on some explosive sensitive matters regarding behind-the-scenes mysteries of the tribunals.
The CCMA and bargaining councils, such as favouritism, poor administration, failure to appreciate the purpose of the (Labour Relations Act) LRA, etc. which sometimes lead to cold cases.
“Employers become very smart when they are about to fire a worker. Instead of charging an employee for something they can’t prove, like theft, they will charge him for not following proper procedures.
“Employers are obviously well resourced and it is easy for them to prove the fairness of an employee’s dismissal. Many alleged unfair dismissal disputes are often proved to be fair.
“Alleged unfair dismissal disputes are, depending on the evidence, either found to be fair or unfair. Many helpless people approach the CCMA without evidence to prove they had done nothing wrong.
“This is why a huge percentage of cases are unsuccessful at these tribunals. Even when the CCMA knows that this employee is being unfairly treated, the person ends up losing the case.
“This is because they have failed to substantiate their innocence,“ says Mapalo.
In the book, she has also listed other reasons for employees failing to win cases at the CCMA, such as bogus lawyers whose only interest is financial gain.
Many employees, she says, get misled by fly-by-night lawyers and untrustworthy and unprepared trade unions They promise them that they have a case even when the odds are against them.
In this book, Mapalo also lifts the lid on more touchy matters regarding the CCMA, the parties and the LRA that the general public, particularly employees, were not aware of, which can lead workers to unfairly lose their jobs.
