DURBAN – The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has reopened all offices to the public after suspending walk-ins for almost two years.
The commission said its decision to embrace the “new normal” came after President Cyril Ramaphosa lifted the national state of disaster last month.
“Guided by the risk assessment, on 1 May 2022, the CCMA is officially re-opening all CCMA offices for user walk-ins,” it said in a statement.
The announcement coincided with Workers Day.
“This official re-opening is significant in that it coincides with Workers’ Day, which is also known as May Day, a day that commemorates the long road toward fair employment standards and celebrates workers’ rights,”said the commission
According to the CCMA all offices will be operational from today, Tuesday.
The CCMA said this re-opening occurs amidst the national disaster of the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal as well as during a time where reports suggest that Covid-19 infections country-wide threaten an increase.
“All users are requested to abide by the strict CCMA Covid-19 operational risk management protocols, which, amongst others, will include, ‘No Mask, No entry’, constant sanitation and social distancing,” it said.
It said the safety, health and life of all employees and users remain paramount.
In addition, the CCMA encouraged all employees and users to vaccinate in order to keep everyone safe.
CCMA director, Advocate Cameron Morajane said the commission is expecting the re-opening of offices to be met with an influx of users opting for in-person interactions.
Morajane said the CCMA will continue with its current hybrid operating model used after walk-ins were suspected.
This model includes streams of digital offerings for case referral, such as the e-Referral platform and the CCMA mobile application (CCMAConnect)
Between 30 July 2020 and 26 April 2022, the CCMA received 29 566 referrals through these digital platforms. During the same period, 6 269 cases were heard digitally.
It said for the 2021/22 financial year, it dealt with 116 926 conciliations (includes pre-conciliations, con/arbs and conciliations), conducted 61 179 arbitrations, dealt with 145 public interest matters and 3 797 mutual interest matters.
“I encourage those who can utilise digital platforms for referrals and hearing cases, to continue to do so,” Morajane said.
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