THE ARBITRATOR’S OUTCOME REPORT OBLIGATIONS

In the case of Department of Education: Gauteng vs Mr. M. Nketu (Lex Info 10 June 2026. Education Labour Relations Council case number ELRC 1392-25 26 GP) a school employee was dismissed by an ELRC arbitrator for sending pornographic material to a female learner.

The employee had testified that he had been in hospital it the time and had given his phone to a relative, Mr Motshwane for safekeeping. Mr Motshwane had confirmed that he had used the employee’s phone to send the pornography to the learner. He said that he had mistakenly believed that he was sending it to his girlfriend.

I was unable to find in the case report a detailed version of Mr Motshwane’s confession. As a result the following questions remain unanswered. How did Mr Motshwane explain why he had used the accused’s phone to message his girlfriend instead of using his own phone? How it happened that Mr Motshwane sent to a learner (with whom he was not even acquainted) a message intended for his girlfriend? How would he have known the phone number of the learner? Had he obtained it from Mr Nketu’s phone records, why was Mr Nketu in possession of the phone number of a young, female learner? Could the fact that Mr Motshwane was the accused’s relative have made him a biased and unreliable witness?

Given the above was the arbitrator obligated to include, in his outcome report:
• the detail of the witnesses’ testimonies to the extent of their relevance to the verdict?
• an analysis of the credibility of the witnesses’ testimonies?
• his reasons for accepting Mr Motshwane’s confession given its apparent implausibility?