PRESS STATEMENT | Company’s Stalingrad Legal Defence Cracks as Directors Face Jail

Date: 28/08/2025


On Thursday 28 August, three directors of Integrated Business Supply, were ordered to appear in person on 11 November to explain why they should not be committed to jail for contempt of court.

The case concerns Mr Vusimusi Hlope who was dismissed for complaining about his wages in September 2021. After a series of hearings, in which Mr Hlope was assisted by the Casual Workers Advice Office, the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) ruled that the dismissal was substantially unfair and ordered that Mr Hlope be reinstated with effect from 28th October 2022. This the company refused to do.

On 16 November 2023, the Labour Court found the three directors of Integrated Business Supply, Evan and Michael Linley and Karien Stassen, guilty of contempt of court. They were fined R150,000, suspended for 30 days on condition they reinstate Mr Hlope. They neither reinstated Mr Hlope nor paid the fine.

In 2024, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) took on the case and found themselves confronted with a Stalingrad strategy by the company. This included the launching of reviews of the original MEIBC ruling and a recission application of the court’s order. These legal moves followed a pattern in which the company used each application to disrupted LHR’s attempts to have the 2023 contempt order enforced and Mr Hlope reinstated.

Even at the latest hearing, the company continued to prevaricate. Its lawyer argued that LHR was not following the court’s rules for bringing a contempt of court application, even though the contempt case had been heard and finalised in 2023! The judge dismissed this latest attempt to stall justice and ordered the respondents to appear in person on 11th November at the Labour Court. Should they fail to satisfactorily explain why they have defied the court’s ruling they will be committed to jail. Costs were awarded against the company.

David Dickinson, attorney at LHR said “This has been long and difficult legal struggle with the company employing a string of Stalingrad tactics to defy the court. Finally, we have hope that this defiance of the law will end and that Mr Hlope will get the justice he deserves.”

For more information contact David Dickinson (082 789 1265 or david@lhr.org.za)

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