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[1]          The applicant (SAAPA), which is a duly constituted branch of the applicant (The Airline Pilots’ Association of South Africa (ALPHA-SA), had approached this Court on an urgent basis, to obtain interim and declaratory relief. The matter having been heard on 21 May 2021, a judgment and order was delivered on 23 May 2021 in terms of which the Applicant’s application was dismissed, with the costs of the application to be determined in the main application which was scheduled to be heard on 15 June 2021.

[2]          The Applicant has since filed an application for leave to appeal against the judgment, and the order dismissing its application. The application for leave to appeal is opposed by the First Respondent.

[3]          The threshold for granting leave to appeal is as contained in section 17(1) of the Superior Courts Act[1]. Accordingly, the Court may grant leave to appeal if it is of the view that such an appeal would have reasonable prospects of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. In Smith v S[2], the test was summarised as follows;

‘What the test of reasonable prospects of success postulates is a dispassionate decision, based on the facts and the law that a court of appeal could reasonably arrive at a conclusion different to that of the trial court. In order to succeed, therefore, the appellant must convince this court on proper grounds that he has prospects of success on appeal and that those prospects are not remote but have a realistic chance of succeeding. More is required to be established than that there is a mere possibility of success, that the case is arguable on appeal or that the case cannot be categorised as hopeless. There must, in other words, be a sound, rational basis for the conclusion that there are prospects of success on appeal.’