Position, academic & professional qualifications

Dr Newaj is a senior lecturer who teaches labour law at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as social security law. She holds the degrees B Com (Law); LLB; HDIP (Labour Law); LLM (cum laude) and LLD. She is an advocate of the High Court and an associate member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates.

Academic and professional experience

Prior to joining the University, Newaj worked primarily in the Public Service, in the field of labour law. She has worked in various public sector Departments. Her last position was at the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform where she held the position of Director: Labour Relations. She also has experience in the bargaining council environment, as she managed the collective bargaining component at the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC).

Teaching activities

Subjects she has taught include: labour law, social security law and commercial law.

Areas of specialisation

Her main field of interest is in Labour Law and Social Security Law.

Publications 

• "The impact of dishonesty on employment: Edcon, prior and beyond", Vol 79, 2016, THRHR 429-442.
•  "Appraisal of Automatically Unfair Dismissal and Retrenchment after the amendments", vol 19, 2016, PER 1-30 (Co-author S Van Eck).
• "Resolving the Benefits Dilemma", Vol 30, 2018, South African Mercantile Law Journal 91-114.
• "Establishing Jurisdiction in respect of Unfair Labour Practices relating to the provision of 'Benefits'", vol 31, 2019, South African Mercantile Law Journal 29-53.
• "Can Employees be Fairly Dismissed for Refusing to Accept a Demand? A Discussion of National Union of Metalworkers of SA & others v Aveng Trident Steel (A Division of Aveng Africa (Pty) Ltd) & another (2019) 40 ILJ 2024 (LAC)", vol 41, 2020, Industrial law Journal 834-845.
• "Defining Fairness in Dismissals of Unauthorised Foreign Nationals", Vol 23, 2020, PER 1-25.
• "Does the Incorrect Classification of Misconduct Charges Constitute Substantive Unfairness? EOH Abantu v CCMA (2019) 40 ILJ 2477 (LAC)", Volume 41(3), 2020, Obiter 631-641.
• "The Constitutional Court on the rights of minority trade unions in a majoritarian collective bargaining system", vol 10, 2020, Constitutional Court Review 331-351 (Co-author S Van Eck).
• “Defining Discrimination on an Arbitrary Ground: A Discussion of Minister of Justice & Correctional Services & others v Ramaila & others” vol 42, 2021, Industrial Law Journal 1405-1416 . 
• “Determining the True Reason for an Alleged Section 187(1)(c) Dismissal: A Discussion of National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa v Aveng Trident Steel (a Division of Aveng Africa (Pty) Ltd) (2021) 42 ILJ 67 (CC)”  vol 24, 2021, Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 1-20.
• “The Use of Contractual Recourse in Dismissal Disputes: Settling the Dilemma” vol 43, 2022, Industrial Law Journal 2189-2218.
• "Re-evaluating the Employment Status of Uber Drivers in South Africa: Lessons from the United Kingdom and New Zealand" vol 55 (issues 2 & 3) of 2022, published in July 2023, Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa 1-31.
• “Dismissals for Cannabis Use: Determining Substantive Fairness”, vol 44, 2023, Industrial Law Journal 683-701.
• “A critical evaluation of whether benefits provided for in COIDA fall within the ambit of the constitutional right to access social security protected in section 27(1)(c) of the Constitution”, vol 44(1), 2023, Obiter 122-138.

Conference Attendance 

• Emerging Legal Scholarship Conference, NMMU, February 2016: Paper Presented: "Section 187(1)(c): making sense of this automatically unfair dismissal".
• Labour Relations Law in South Africa: Twenty Years of Law making and Adjudication Conference, UNISA, August 2016: Paper Presented: "The provision of 'benefits' as an unfair labour practice in South African labour law".
• Constitutional Court Review Conference, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg 29-30 August 2019: Paper Presented: "The Constitutional Court on the Rights of Minority Trade Unions in a Majoritarian Collective Bargaining System".
• 4th African Labour Law Society Conference, Nairobi Kenya (presented online), 21 October 2021: "A Step Back for Unfair Discrimination Law in South Africa".
• Online seminar hosted by the Labour Law Research Network (LLRN) on Migrant domestic workers, 15 June 2022: " Migrant Domestic Workers: A South African Perspective".
• ILO Centenary Conference, Future Africa, Pretoria, University of Pretoria 4-5 October 2019: Paper Presented: "Rights of minority trade unions: perspectives from the ILO and CC".
• 5th African Labour Law Society Conference, Mauritius 30 and 31 March 2023: Paper Presented “Re-evaluating the employment status of Uber Drivers in South Africa against the backdrop of the Supreme Court of Appeal decision in Uber BV v Aslam”.

Tel: +27 12 420 3153

E-mail:[email protected]

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