Acting justice of appeal John Murphy in Edcon v Steenkamp (JS648/13, JS51/14, JS350/14) [2015] ZALAC 2 (3 March 2015) at para 31.

Edcon opted to focus on the second and more controversial principle enunciated in the De Beer’s judgment that a dismissal will be invalid if the employer does not comply with the requirements of section 189A(8) of the LRA, in other words that which it refers to as the De Beers principle.  Edcon contends that if the employer dismisses employees without the dispute being referred to conciliation, or otherwise prematurely before the lapse of the relevant time periods, such procedural flaws, in the context of section 189A of the LRA, do not have the consequence that the dismissals are invalid and of no force and effect.