The Legality of Traditional Healers’ Sick-Notes in South Africa

Abstract

KEYWORDS Sangoma. Medical Certificates. Medical Doctors. Native Doctors. Sick Leave.Law. The Constitution ABSTRACTTheSouth African law relating to sick leave is regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997. This statute gives an allowance that one may be absent from work as a result of sickness, and in order to avoid abuse of this law, it further states that such an employee has to provide a medical certificate from a medical practitioner as evidence of the alleged incapacity.South Africa being a country of diverse cultures and beliefs, employers have had employees producing medical certificates from traditional healers.The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether these kinds of medical certificates should be legally accepted or not, that is to check whether employers are obliged to accept these certificates. This paper has been motivated by the controversial judgment of the case of Kievits Kroon Country Estate (Pty) Ltd v Mmoledi and others, where the Labour Appeal Court ruled in favour of the medical certificates from the traditional healers.