Capacity: Advocate
First admitted as advocate: 1999
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Date of Birth: 29 June 1970
Key judgments:
- Eskom Holdings SOC Limited v De Wet NO (2018) 39 ILJ 2715 (LC)
- Samancor Ltd (Eastern Chrome Mines) v CCMA and others (Case No: JR910/16) ZALCJHB (13 August 2018)
- Premier Mpumalanga v Sheriff: Johannesburg Central (Case No: J1687/14) ZALCJHB (23 July 2019)
- POPCRU v Minister of Correctional Services and Another (2011) 32 ILJ 2541 (LC)
- POPCRU v Ledwaba NO (2014) 35 ILJ 1037 (LC)
Candidate Bio:
Pretoria Advocate Jacques Basson started his legal career in 1991, when he worked as an administration officer at the then Pensions Administration of the Department of Finance. In 1999, he did his pupillage and became an advocate at the Pretoria Bar, where he has predominately practiced in labour law (including pensions and immigration law) and civil litigation (constitutional law and administrative law).
Basson has held a few acting stints as an acting judge in the Labour Court since 2018. In Samancor Ltd (Eastern Chrome Mines) v CCMA , a review of the CCMA’s decision to reinstate mineworkers dismissed for misconduct for failing to obey safety precautions, Basson held that the dismissal was both procedurally and substantively unfair as there was no evidence that the employer had applied the rules inconsistently in dismissing the employees. On appeal, the Labour Appeal Court set aside Basson’s decision (with costs in favour of the employer) on the basis that the employees were aware of the rules and ignored both a verbal and written instruction to comply, which justified all the employee’s dismissal. The Constitutional Court confirmed the LAC’s decision but set aside the award of legal costs in favour of the employer (confirming Basson’s earlier ruling on this point). Basson holds the BLC and LLB degrees from the University of Pretoria.
April 2021 Interview:
April 2021 Interview Synopsis:
Employment law advocate Francois Basson’s interview came late in the evening of the final day of interviews for JSC’s April 2021 session. That probably explains why it went by quickly – all of 15 minutes. Labour Court Judge President Basheer Waglay quickly grilled Basson on his judgment in the Samancor case (which the Labour Appeal Court overturned on appeal) stating, “I get very concerned when acting judges get the facts wrong”. Basson explained that he had not gotten the facts wrong as the parties before him had not raised a particularly issue as strongly as they raised it when they went on appeal. He however accepts the LAC’s decision. Commissioner Narend Singh asked Basson about the length of his acting stints (which he implied to have been too short). No other questions came and Basson’s interview ended. He was not recommended for appointment.
