IOP3704 EXAM PREP
2022/2023.
,1. Critically discuss mediation and conflict resolution in South and
Southern Africa. (10)
The apartheid government in South Africa ended in 1994, but the new government in
South Africa had to work through the question of dealing with the past in order to
move forward.
Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a
disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or
emotional. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is negotiation
to resolve the disagreement.
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), a way of
resolving disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects. Typically, a
third party, the mediator assists the parties to negotiate a settlement.
The Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (IMSSA) was formed in 1984;
they offered mediation services to employers and unions.
IMSSA was a non-profit organisation offering mediation and then arbitration services
to companies and unions.
IMSSA established panels of mediators and arbitrators in the major centres and
serviced a burgeoning need across South Africa.
The 1980’s posed real challenges for IMSSA mediators and they were often called in
to mediate very difficult disputes.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), the new national
dispute resolution agency.
The credibility of the CCMA would rest on three pillars:
The capability and competence of its commissioner.
Easy access to its services.
An electronic case management system that could track the progress of cases
from inception to conclusion.
Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland opted for independent dispute resolution
agencies with tripartite governing bodies while the other countries opted to house the
new services within their Ministers of Labour.
Common to all systems was the assertion of mediation as the primary dispute
resolution process, with residual recourse to arbitration for rights disputes.
, Tutorial 201
The apartheid government in South Africa ended in 1994, but the new government in
South Africa had to work through the question of dealing with the past in order to
move forward. This gave way to mediation process, as a way of resolving conflict in
South Africa,that led to the establishment of the Independent Mediation Service in
South Africa (IMSA) in 1984, later followed by other mediation organisations such as
Legal Resource Centre (LRC), African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of
Disputes (ACCORD), Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration
(CCMA).
The mediation process must include amongst others the following: Relationship
building initiatives such as Relationship By Objectives (RBO), primarily based on the
development of the employer and trade unions consensus-based objectives and
relevant programmes or activities directed towards improving the quality of their
engagements. The establishment of the National Peace Accord by IMSA, subscribed
by the ten major political parties, liberation movements, Non-government
Organisations (NGO), business and organised labour. In 1994 mediation was
embedded in South Africa, after the first post-Apartheid inclusive democratic
elections as an effective process to resolve conflict.
Assignment answer
Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a
disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or
emotional. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is negotiation
to resolve the disagreement. Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative
dispute resolution (ADR), which is a way of resolving disputes between two or more
parties with concrete effects [ CITATION Ben06 \l 1033 ].
South Africa mediation is mainly “a form of active third-party intervention into a
dispute, but the third party has no decision-making power, and the aim is to direct
and assist the disputants to find their own mutually-acceptable solution. Mediators
endeavour to achieve some of the following objectives; remove certain obstacles that
are hampering progress, reduce tension between the parties, improve
communication and common understanding of issues, broaden the search for
potential solutions and train parties in negotiation skills”
