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Judge Graham Nasious Moshoana

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Judge Moshoana

Capacity: Judge
First Appointed as a Judge: May 2017 (Labour Court)
Further Appointments: Gauteng High Court (December 2024)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: October 1969
Qualifications: B Proc (1991)(Limpopo University), LLB (1993)(Wits), LLM (2003)(UJ), LLD (2025)(University of North West)

Key Judgments:

Candidate Bio | Updated August 2026:

Judge Graham Nasious Moshoana is a judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court and currently serves as an Acting Judge of the Labour Appeal Court.

Judge Moshoana was admitted as an attorney in 1995 and practised for 22 years. He began his legal career at Moseneke & Partners as a candidate attorney in 1993. He later started his own practice and served as director until 2017.

Judge Moshoana’s legal career displays a commitment to labour-related issues. He served as a Commissioner for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for four years, as well as an Acting Judge of the Labour Court, where he was permanently appointed in 2017.

Moshoana has handed down several notable judgments, including Solomons v Phokela, which led to amendments to the CCMA Rules.

In Bakhresa SA (Pty) Ltd v Jaipal, Moshoana reaffirmed the important distinction between a review and an appeal of an arbitration award, emphasising that a review court must determine whether the commissioner considered the material issues, evaluated the evidence and reached a reasonable conclusion, rather than reconsidering the matter as an appeal court. He further stressed the duty of courts to provide adequate reasons for their decisions, particularly when exercising the Labour Court’s supervisory jurisdiction.

On the merits, Moshoana confirmed that reinstatement is the primary remedy for substantively unfair dismissal and that an employer seeking to avoid reinstatement must establish a statutory exception with compelling evidence. He also held that an employer cannot rely on a position becoming redundant after the dismissal to defeat an employee’s right to reinstatement.

In Edgray Distributors (Pty) Ltd t/a Jumbo Clothing v SACCAWU, Moshoana affirmed that procedural irregularities and substantive fairness may be closely connected in operational-requirements dismissals, meaning that procedural allegations may properly be relied upon as evidence supporting a claim of substantive unfairness. He further applied the principle that an interlocutory order is generally not appealable under section 166(1) of the Labour Relations Act because an appeal lies against a final judgment or order.

Moshoana also confirmed that material should not be struck from pleadings unless the requirements for a strike-out are satisfied, including that the material is scandalous, vexatious or irrelevant and that its retention would cause prejudice. The Court consequently regarded the appeal as an unnecessary and delaying step and dismissed it with costs.

Judge Moshoana has co-authored a book on labour law, entitled The Role of Labour Court in the Transformative Age, which examines the evolving role of labour courts in South Africa and Namibia. He has also written on the application of the audi alteram partem rule in precautionary suspensions, examining the relationship between procedural fairness, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and the Labour Relations Act. His work considers, in particular, the legal basis for an employee’s right to be heard before precautionary suspension and the appropriate statutory framework for challenging unfair suspensions.

In addition to his BProc from the University of Limpopo, LLB from Wits, LLM from UJ and recently obtained LLD from NWU, Moshoana holds a higher diploma in labour law and a diploma in corporate law from UJ.

Undoubtedly, the largest question that will loom over Judge Moshoana at the JSC interviews is his experience, especially since he is now applying for the position of second-in-command of the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts. Moshoana has practised law for many years and has served as a permanent judge of the Labour Court since 2017 and a judge of the Gauteng High Court since 2024. However, he only started acting as a Judge of the Labour Appeal Court in 2026 and has not yet gained any leadership experience in his acting roles.

October 2024 Interview:

October 2024 Interview Synopsis:

Judge Moshoana’s October interview largely picked up where his previous interview left off. His interview started with Chief Justice Maya walking through his academic qualifications and his career before being elevated to the bench.

A talking point once again was his writing abilities. Not only has he written more than 340 judgments in his judicial career, CJ Maya was particularly impressed with his extrajudicial writing of articles and books. She described him as a “prolific writer” and pointed out how well he has done in being able to co-author a book while being a sitting judge. When quizzed on where he finds the time to write all these things he explained that it is rooted in his enjoyment of reading.

During his questions asked by Judge President Mlambo, Judge Moshoana confirmed that all of his judgments were handed down punctually within the three month prescribed period. Picking up on a contentious point in his previous interview JP Mlambo invited him to set the record straight and confirm his affiliation with the law firm he used to practise at. On this he made two points, firstly that he has no interest or any financial interest in the practise at all. Secondly that he has also expressed these sentiments to his previous Judge President as well. Premier Lesufi picked up on this line of questioning and asked if he had taken any additional steps after his last interview to confirm that he has no affiliation with the practise to which Moshoana responded in the affirmative.

Commissioner Ngcukaitobi put forward the objections made against him, the first was connected to his affiliation to his previous practise. The comment was that after his 2023 interview, Judge President Waglay noted that they had not meet to discuss the matter and on this basis Adv Ngcukaitobi SC questioned if this was because he was unable to cooperate with the JP? Moshoana dismissed this and confirmed that the JP received an email in this regard.

The next objection was made by Mr Zulu who was a litigant before him. The base of his complaint was that Moshoan did not provide him reasons for the decision in his judgment. Moshoana explained that this had occurred because it was an ex tempore judgment and it was Mr Zulu’s responsibility to get the transcript of the judgment.  The final objection was that he failed to raise a conflict of interest in a matter he presided over, however Moshoana set this to rest and explained that he had made a disclosure in the matter.

Judge Moshoana was ultimately successful in his interview.

October 2023 Interview:

October 2023 Interview Synopsis:

Judge Graham Moshoana’s October 2023 interview for a position on the Gauteng High Court was unsuccessful. He was not nominated for appointment.

April 2017 Interview:

April 2017 Interview Synopsis:

A practising attorney, Graham Moshoana, was tested on his ability to write judgments and deliver them on time and his experience in the field of labour law.

He was also quizzed about disciplinary steps taken against his law firm after it was discovered that they were not keeping fee journals. Moshoana said this had happened when he and his partners were still young and had opened up several branches of their law firm, but had struggled to keep up with there practice.

He confirmed that they had pleaded guilty and had been given a suspended sentence. Moshoana said he unreservedly accepted wrongdoing on his part.