News24 reports that the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) reopened its offices for walk-ins on Sunday. This came nearly two years after the dispute resolution body issued a directive to suspend walk-ins at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The decision to temporarily suspend user walk-ins, particularly for case referral and advisory, was a difficult pronouncement to make, given that a significant percentage of case referrals come through our front desks,” CCMA director, advocate Cameron Morajane said. The CCMA said the temporary suspension of walk-ins allowed it to introduce new streams of digital offerings for case referrals, such as the e-referral platform and the CCMA mobile application (CCMAConnect).

The body said it received 29 566 referrals through these digital platforms between 30 July 2020 and 26 April 2022. The body stated that it was time to embrace the “new normal” following the lifting of the national state of disaster in April. While it anticipated an influx of users opting for in-person interactions, the CCMA said it would continue with its current hybrid operating model.

by Canny Maphanga