Racism in the workplace is not ‘insensitive’, says the Labour Court

A team leader at a Cape Town call centre told his staff they couldn’t visit his home. The reason: his dog, named Hitler, was trained to “bark at and bite” Black people. He laughed while telling them the dog had once chased a Black child. A CCMA commissioner heard all of this and called it “insensitive”. Not racist. Insensitive. The Labour Court found that label indefensible, and its ruling is clear about how racism in the workplace must be handled in South Africa.

This post goes with a Legal Tea video on the same case. Links to watch it on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are at the end.

Racist remarks at a Cape Town call centre

The employee was a team leader with about 15 agents under him at Full Circle Contact Centre Services (trading as Capita South Africa). He also allegedly complained about having once reported to an African woman, because she was both Black and a woman.

Several employees complained about his conduct and the company dismissed him in April 2023 for race and gender discrimination.

Why the CCMA called it unfair dismissal

The commissioner accepted that the company followed the right process, but found it had no good enough reason to fire him. In his view the employee had been “insensitive to the feelings of Black people”, it was a first offence and he had apologised. He ordered the company to give him his job back, with back pay of R57 608.31.

How the Labour Court overturned the CCMA

The company asked the Labour Court to review the CCMA’s decision. In Full Circle Contact Centre Services t/a Capita South Africa v Williamson (Labour Court, Cape Town, 14 July 2026), Acting Judge Daniels overturned it. She found the commissioner had:

called clearly racist conduct “mere insensitivity”, instead of asking how a reasonable person would see it, which is the test the Constitutional Court set in 2018
ignored the country’s history, “including the use of dogs against black people” and what the name Hitler carries
treated an apology made months after he was fired as proof that he was truly sorry

The court then decided the matter itself: the company had a fair reason to fire him. In its words, conduct like this “cannot be glossed over or accommodated or excused”.

Why racism at work is a fair reason for dismissal

The commissioner got this badly wrong. Calling racism “insensitivity” turns a discrimination charge into a question of manners and bad manners rarely justify dismissal. What matters is how a reasonable person would see the words, not whether the speaker says he meant no harm.

Had the company accepted the CCMA’s decision, a man who joked about his dog chasing a Black child would be back managing the same team.

Need help with racism or unfair dismissal at work?

Faced racism at work or been dismissed and not sure it was fair? Rangasamy Attorneys Inc. can help. Email [email protected] or call 039 004 0114 to book a consultation.

Watch the video

Prefer to watch? Dharini explains this case in a short Legal Tea video:

This post is general information about South African law, not personalised legal advice. For help with a specific situation, contact Rangasamy Attorneys Inc. at [email protected] or 039 004 0114.