The court held that a consent order between parties and sealed by court could not override a statutory provision. The court was satisfied that section 12 of the Pensions Act stipulated that the mandatory retirement age to be 60 years which the appellant had attained. The court accordingly concluded that the appellant was entitled to salary arrears beyond the mandatory retirement age.

The court further considered whether the trial court erroneously awarded costs of the application to the respondent. The court held that courts generally had to award costs to successful or prevailing parties unless that party was guilty of some fault, misconduct or default worthy of punishment. The court was satisfied that the appellant’s application was independent of the consent order and had been decided in favour of the respondent. The court accordingly concluded that the trial court was right to award costs of the application to the respondent.