Now that employers and employers have been provided with clear guidelines on how other forms of harassment which persist in the workplace must be handled, including an injunction in the Code that employers adopt a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of harassment, one can only hope that they have the same effect.

Marion Shaer met with representatives of the Rules Board and of the Department of Justice to discuss their views on how Rule 41A will facilitate more effective access to justice in the Magistrates and High Courts.

I recently had a conversation with an attorney who has been in litigation practice for a good 10 years. With me being a mediator, our conversation eventually turned to Rule 41A. I asked how this Rule was impacting her practice. She was quick to respond that everyone has now adapted to the new Rule.

The true value in mediation is in the techniques that mediators use to trigger fissures in the impasse of a particular dispute, and the intrinsic bias towards a fair result. Measures to encourage disputants to use mediation should emphasize the character of mediation as a technique suitable for a particular dispute; ie mediation as a professional intervention possessing role-specific attributes.

The past few years have changed the face of the SA workplace and have been difficult for everyone on all fronts. Whilst the signs are pointing to a return to normality, with the worst ravages of Covid and the associated lockdown period behind us, do we have cause to be optimistic for the future – particularly from a labour point of view?

In some respects, the tertiary education sector is little different from other sectors in the economy. There are a variety of stakeholders with seemingly competing interests and limited resources, and the usual potential for conflicts and disputes. These are opportunities for mediated outcomes.

In South Africa, issues such as bullying, racism, sexism, exclusion, victimisation, misbehaviour and violence are a growing crisis in our school system. Despite the clear frameworks and discipline guidelines, there are very few programmes being implemented so that schools effectively deal with conflict in more suitable ways.

Although restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are beginning to ease and more people are now returning to work at their employer’s premises, many employers have realised that there are significant advantages to allowing those who can, to continue working from home. In any event, in terms of current regulations, an employer must still ensure that those who can work from home, do so.

In South Africa, evolving standards of corporate governance best practice, growing judicial support for mediation in appropriate circumstances, and the introduction of Rule 41A of the High Court Rules leave no room for doubt that commercial litigators now have a duty to explain to clients what opportunity mediation presents for resolving their dispute. Parties must necessarily be empowered to make informed decisions on their approach to mediation either when instituting or defending proceedings.