Communication Workers Union v Mobile Telephone Networks (Pty) Ltd (DA10/13) [2015] ZALAC 8 ; [2015] JOL 33385; (2015) ILJ 1819 (LAC) (21 April 2015) per Davis JA.

MTN terminated a contract with Interaction Call Centre (Pty) Ltd (ICC) which had been providing a service to MTN.  The business was transferred as a going concern to MTN and it performed the services previously provided by ICC in the form of a call centre. MTN provided the same services to the same category of clients. The main business objective remained the same as it had been during the service agreement.

The same operational methods of providing services were followed by MTN. In addition MTN took over many of ICC’s former employees together with a  number of agents, all of whom were assigned to provide a necessary service.  Section 197 of the LRA applies when upon a finely grained analysis of the facts it appears that in substance a discrete business operation had been transferred from entity A to B.