NBCRFLI loses urgent court bid to silence ISS over R2.59bn worker funds

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

Sign in Welcome! Log into your account your username your password {{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}

NBCRFLI loses urgent court bid to silence ISS over R2.59bn worker funds

Truck Driver Jailed for 11 Years After Mobile Phone Game Distraction Killed Motorist

Diraro Group Faces R424.8m Creditor Crisis as 647 Jobs Hang in the Balance

N3 Closed at Van Reenen After Multi-Vehicle Pile-Up as Diesel Tanker Leaks Fuel

Five 300-Year-Old Baobabs Begin Abnormal-Load Journey After Durban Export Interception

New BMA vehicle checks at South African borders: How the system works and what truckers need to know

Durban Port truck queues are back, and TNPA now admits equipment problems are part of the problem

DGT acknowledges operational problems as new slot system aims to ease truck delays

TNPA Confirms Ship Crash Into Durban Harbour Quay, Moved to Alternative Berth

Truck And Driver’s Body Recovered After Plunge Into Sea At Port Of Ngqura

Watch: N2 Closed Near Knysna as Protestors Burn Objects at Lamco

Truck driver killed after N3 crash and fire near Longmeadow

Watch: Runaway Truck Ploughs Into Parked Cars Outside Athlone Primary School in Pietermaritzburg

Dashcam exposes reckless overtaking behind serious N10 crash near Paterson

Nine killed in two Eastern Cape crashes as truck carrying 30 people overturns

Truck driver killed after N3 crash and fire near Longmeadow

Watch: Runaway Truck Ploughs Into Parked Cars Outside Athlone Primary School in Pietermaritzburg

Watch: 3 Trucks Escape Head-On Disaster in Terrifying Misty Highway Near Miss

Dashcam exposes reckless overtaking behind serious N10 crash near Paterson

Watch: Eagle Launches Relentless Attack on Drone at Zambia Toll Gate in Bizarre Aerial Showdown

HomeIndustry InsightsNBCRFLI loses urgent court bid to silence ISS over R2.59bn worker funds Industry InsightsTrucking News NBCRFLI loses urgent court bid to silence ISS over R2.59bn worker funds By Skhumbuzo Masiko 7 minutes ago 0 15 Share FacebookXPinterestWhatsApp The National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI) has suffered a court setback in its attempt to stop Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS) and its managing director, Arnoux Maré, from making further public statements about the Council’s handling of R2.59 billion linked to workers’ benefit funds.

The High Court in Johannesburg struck the Council’s urgent application from the roll on Tuesday, 10 November, for lack of urgency and awarded costs against it, according to a media statement issued by ISS.

The ruling does not determine whether ISS’s allegations about the worker benefit funds are correct. However, it means the Council’s attempt to obtain urgent court restrictions has failed at this stage.

ISS says the NBCRFLI approached the court after the company published concerns arising from an independent analysis of the Council’s audited financial statements, prepared by forensic accounting expert Professor Harvey Wainer of the Wits School of Accountancy.

The Council reportedly sought an order declaring statements made by ISS and Maré defamatory, forcing them to issue an unconditional public retraction and apology, and preventing them from publishing further statements containing similar allegations.

The application also extended to independent media.

According to ISS, the Council wanted the company and Maré to formally request that media platforms remove articles reporting on the financial concerns, despite the journalists and publishers responsible for those reports not being named as respondents in the application.

This raises wider questions about the ability of independent media to report on disputes involving organisations responsible for administering workers’ benefits.

The dispute centres on ISS’s analysis of the NBCRFLI’s financial statements for the years 2018 to 2025.

ISS questioned the accounting treatment of approximately R2.59 billion linked to worker benefit funds, arguing that the financial statements did not adequately distinguish the assets and obligations of the individual funds from those of the Council.

The analysis also identified what ISS described as shortfalls in the Sick Pay, Holiday Pay and Leave Pay funds between 2021 and 2023.

The NBCRFLI has strongly rejected the allegations, maintaining that the money belongs to industry employees, that the funds are properly administered and that its financial statements have repeatedly received unqualified audit opinions.

In September, SA Trucker reported on another development in the dispute when the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) said the Council’s description of its investigations was inaccurate.

Read: IRBA disputes NBCRFLI claim as R2.59bn worker funds remain under scrutiny

In its court papers, the NBCRFLI reportedly argued that continued critical reporting could cause substantial financial losses and potentially threaten its existence.

The Council stated: “By the time matter [sic] is heard, there is a strong possibility the applicant would have suffered huge financial losses and would have to consider closing its doors.”

Maré questioned why scrutiny of the Council’s own financial statements could allegedly have such serious consequences.

ISS also argued in its answering papers that the Council had not identified a single employer, employee, trade union, regulator or investor that had ended a relationship or withheld payment because of the reporting.

The Council has since applied to have the matter enrolled on the ordinary court roll, according to ISS.

This means the underlying defamation dispute has not necessarily ended. The urgent application was struck from the roll because of a lack of urgency; the court did not decide the merits of the allegations or the defamation claims.

Maré says ISS will continue raising questions about the administration of the worker benefit funds and has again called on the Registrar of Labour Relations and the Department of Employment and Labour to investigate the concerns.

The company is also calling for separate audited financial statements for each worker benefit fund, together with clearer disclosures of what each fund holds and owes.

For now, the NBCRFLI has failed to secure the urgent restrictions it sought against ISS and Maré. But with the Council seeking to move the matter onto the ordinary court roll, the legal battle over the R2.59 billion in worker benefit funds is far from over.