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South Africa: Mediation as a Redress Mechanism

Posted on by angelo
South Africa: Mediation as a Redress Mechanism

As the mediation practice at the University of Cape Town (UCT) prepares to move from the Office for Inclusion and Change (OIC) to Employee Relations, mediators met earlier in July to take stock of their work at their first Community of Practice (COP) meeting.

Mediation is widely used by students and staff – ranging from relational conflicts to complex conflicts arising from interpersonal racism and related systemic practices. The Mediation Practice’s members are spread across UCT campuses and are comprised of academics and Administrative and Service Support (ASS) staff.

“UCT’s restorative justice programmes are focused on reparation, which aims not only to strengthen relationships within the university, but also to identify systemic challenges (implemented through policies and practices) that lead to conflict. Mediation is one of the mechanisms through which UCT’s transformational and organisational ethics goals can be achieved,” said OIC Director Dr Sianne Alves.

“As an accredited mediator, UCT staff remain part of an external and internal community of practice where they can continue to develop their mediation skills by attending other courses or conducting mediations outside of UCT to enhance their own mediation skills,” added Dr Alves.

Barbara Mapara, director of employee relations and attorney, said of her office’s upcoming move: “Employee relations has always had a mediation function for the university. However, the Social Justice Network’s restorative mediation training provides complementary skills that focus on rebuilding and repairing relationships between colleagues and students while examining whether existing policies and relationships are catalyzing conflict.”

Formal and informal

“Human Resources is guided by the Labour Relations Act (LRA) in how we manage and resolve workplace complaints and disputes. The LRA also guides our policy development. Council approved a combined disciplinary policy three years ago for academic and PASS staff, whereas in the past this was not the case. While mediation is not preferred for misconduct, the policy recognises informal ways of dealing with less serious misconduct that does not require a formal disciplinary management approach; for example, where an employee transgresses a less serious case of misconduct, the line manager will deal with the matter less formally, resulting in a verbal or written warning,” Mapara said.

“Mediation improves with practice, so you need to practice this skill regularly.”