Premier of Mpumalanga v Executive Committee, Association of Governing Bodies

The Constitutional Court held that the provincial education department's abrupt change in school funding policy, which reversed a previous exemption allowing schools to charge fees, violated the legitimate expectations of affected school governing bodies. The department was required to afford procedurally fair hearing opportunities before implementing the policy reversal.

The Mpumalanga education department initially permitted certain historically disadvantaged schools to charge fees and retain the funds. Subsequently, the provincial executive reversed this policy without prior consultation, directing that all fees be paid to the state. School governing bodies challenged this abrupt reversal on grounds of procedural unfairness.

Whether a provincial education authority must afford procedural fairness and hearing rights to affected parties before changing a policy that created legitimate expectations.

The Constitutional Court held that the change in policy violated the legitimate expectations of school governing bodies and that procedural fairness required prior consultation before such a substantive policy reversal. The province was ordered to reconsider the policy change after affording affected parties a fair hearing.

Where an administrative body creates a legitimate expectation through prior policy or conduct, procedural fairness requires that affected parties be consulted and afforded a hearing before that policy is substantively altered to their detriment.

The Court reasoned that the doctrine of legitimate expectation forms part of the right to procedural fairness under administrative law and constitutional principles. While administrators retain discretion to change policy, they must respect procedural fairness when such changes affect established expectations. The failure to consult before reversing the fee policy rendered the decision procedurally unfair and unconstitutional.

The Court noted that legitimate expectation does not necessarily guarantee a substantive outcome, but mandates fair procedure before disappointment of the expectation.

This case is foundational for understanding the doctrine of legitimate expectation in South African administrative law and illustrates how constitutional principles of procedural fairness constrain executive policy-making, particularly in the education context. It remains a key authority on the intersection of legitimate expectation, administrative justice, and the constitutional right to just administrative action.

Premier of Mpumalanga v Executive Committee, Association of Governing Bodies 1999 (2) SA 91 (CC) [1998] ZACC 20