{"id":865157,"date":"2026-07-01T14:59:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865157"},"modified":"2026-07-01T14:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:59:53","slug":"106-year-old-union-in-south-africa-faces-cancellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/865157\/106-year-old-union-in-south-africa-faces-cancellation\/","title":{"rendered":"106-year-old union in South Africa faces cancellation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Employment and Labour has put one of the biggest and oldest public servant unions in South Africa on notice for cancellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DEL confirmed that the Registrar of Labour Relations has gazetted the intention to cancel the registration of the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PSA is one of the oldest unions in the country, founded in 1920, and represents over 245,000 public sector workers\u2014the third-largest public sector organisation in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A move to cancel its registration follows recent court proceedings, where the court raised concerns relating to the PSA\u2019s compliance with the requirements of the Labour Relations Act, the DEL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These concerns include whether the organisation meets the definition of a genuine trade union, whether it can function in accordance with its constitution, and whether it complies with statutory provisions governing accountability and organisational conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Registrar reflected these concerns, noting that the organisation may have failed to comply with sections 98, 99, and 100 of the LRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These sections relate to financial reporting, record-keeping, and transparency obligations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The judgment reinforced the importance of these compliance standards as fundamental to maintaining the integrity of the labour relations system,” the DEL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department stressed that the notice was part of a lawful administrative process and does not constitute a final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it initiates a process where the outcome could be that the PSA loses its status as a union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before that happens, though, there is a procedure that allows the organisation and interested parties an opportunity to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In line with the principles of fairness and due process, the PSA and all interested stakeholders have been invited to submit written representations within 60 days of the publication of the notice, providing reasons why the registration should not be cancelled,” the DEL said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All submissions will be considered before any final determination is made.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department said that the notice does not immediately affect the organisation\u2019s current operational status, and that all processes will be conducted fairly, impartially, and in full accordance with the LRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PSA is not planning on giving up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
PSA General Manager Reuben Maleka <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PSA General Manager Reuben Maleka told BusinessTech that the notice of intention to cancel the union, which had been expedited, is damaging to the reputation of the PSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maleka raised concerns about why the case was expedited so quickly and questioned why the DEL would pay more money to issue the notice immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that on 22 June, the DEL sent the PSA a notice stating that it was no longer considering the PSA’s registration due to concerns relating to compliance and the Labour Relations Act (LRA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application for registration was withdrawn; however, Maleka said they will continue to fight their cause and will take the matter to court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are fully aware that this is deliberate and personal,” said Maleka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maleka said the PSA has already been to court four times, noting that the legal action began in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are probably going to be in court 10 times,” said Maleka, expressing frustration at the longstanding battle and the amount of money spent on the legal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the Registrar of Labour Relations does not feel sympathy for the PSA, as each court case is being funded through taxpayer money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maleka said the union has no choice but to submit its appeal this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Employment and Labour has put one of the biggest and oldest public servant unions in South Africa on notice for cancellation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":865196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[17130,17521,25699],"class_list":["post-865157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-department-of-employment-and-labour","tag-psa","tag-reuben-maleka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865198,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865157\/revisions\/865198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}