Abstract

This case note concerns the Constitutional Court’s reaffirmation of the principles relating to cost orders in labour law. The matter relates to a costs order that had been awarded by the Labour Court without it furnishing reasons for imposing such order. The Constitutional Court confirmed that the principle that costs orders should not follow the winner was rooted in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The note argues that the apex court could have gone a step further in emphasising how issues relating to poor workers, such as those of race and class, should be taken into account in the awarding of such orders.