The labour court has paved the way for axed Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews to possibly make a return to the entity as it ruled that his contract was still in force and set aside the rail agency's review application of an arbitration ruling made in his favour.
Matthews was fired by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) in 2021 for holding dual citizenship, which the entity at the time said was a material breach that he did not disclose.
Matthews is the son of the late struggle stalwart Joe Matthews, who lived in exile in England, which is when the dual citizenship was obtained. He is also the younger brother of former international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor. He was chair of the Ports Regulator and has also served as a board member at the South African Post Office.
Just months later, the arbitrator, retired judge Robert Nugent, ruled that the ailing agency should reinstate Matthews with back pay.
Prasa ignored this ruling and instead applied for a stay of the arbitration award. Prasa also applied to the labour court to review Nugent's award.
The labour court, in a judgment handed down on Monday, set aside Prasa's review application and said Matthews' "fixed contract remains extant [and that] this is not a case where the arbitrator or court would be reviving an expired fixed-term contract".
It also made the arbitration award an order of the court as it slapped Prasa with legal costs.
* This is a developing story
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