Aspen Pharmacare appeal extends worker’s 10-year reinstatement fight

Aspen Pharmacare indicated on Oct. 9 it would appeal a September 2026 Labour Court ruling ordering it to reinstate Roderick Munnick, Daily Maverick reported in an Oct. 18 news article.

The appeal matters because Judge Molatelo Robert Makhura’s order came almost 10 years after Aspen dismissed Munnick on Sept. 8, 2016, extending a case the worker is contesting without legal representation.

Munnick, a 50-year-old father of two from Gqeberha, told Daily Maverick the dismissal damaged more than his income. “When you are unjustly and unfairly dismissed, it eats away at the very core of your faith and of your belief – and your humanity,” he said.

Munnick said he expected Aspen’s move but was still shaken by it. “I sort of expected it, 90%. But it only sunk in, like, Sunday.

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t eat the whole day,” he told the publication.

The former production technician said the appeal disrupted hopes of restoring family life and financial stability. “Because [just] when you think it’s over, you’re back at square one,” he said.

Daily Maverick reported that Munnick worked at Aspen’s Gqeberha operation and was dismissed after workplace protests in May 2016. Employees from the Small Volume Parenteral division and Unit 1 gathered during lunch breaks over issues including incentives, warehousing grading and transport.

Aspen treated the protest as unlawful and warned workers against continuing, according to the article. The action continued on May 19 and May 20, and Aspen went to the Labour Court for an interdict. An interim order was issued on May 23, 2016, and confirmed on June 2, 2016.

Munnick acknowledged taking part in the protest, Daily Maverick reported. The dismissal, however, centred on Aspen’s allegation that he incited employees to participate in an unlawful picket after he emailed engineering staff encouraging collective support for workplace demands.

Munnick challenged the dismissal, saying he believed the protest was lawful and that his view was supported by advice from the South African Chemical Workers’ Union, according to the report. The Labour Court later ruled Aspen had unfairly dismissed him and ordered reinstatement.

The article said Munnick lost legal representation weeks before the case was due to be heard and prepared for the Labour Court hearing on his own. After Aspen indicated it would appeal, he filed a notice to oppose and intends to continue without a lawyer.

The next step identified in the report is the appeal process that Munnick has moved to oppose.