QUESTION 1 Nhlana Attorneys & Associates (NAA) runs a law firm in the East Rand which is part of Gauteng Province. It has three candidate attorneys, Kryshna, Thandi and Piet. In the first quarter of 2022, Kryshna and Thandi fell pregnant and subsequently took maternity leave towards the end of the third quarter of 2022. Effectively, by the 1st of October 2022, NAA had only Piet as the candidate attorney and thus he had to carry by himself the entire workload meant for all candidate attorneys. Practically, Piet was able to manage the workload alone for the duration of Kryshna and Thandi's maternity leave so much that NAA decided to terminate the services of both Kryshna and Thandi as it believes that keeping them is costly, particularly, because of their absence due to maternity leave. When Kryshna and Thandi received the news of the abrupt termination of their contracts of employment on the 30th of December 2022, they got worried and sought legal advice. Answer the following questions:

(a) (i) With reference to the applicable legal authority, explain what the conduct of NAA towards both Kryshna and Thandi amounts to? (5)

(ii) Define the concept you mentioned as the answer to question (a)(i) above. (8)

(iii) What would be the possible remedies for Kryshna and Thandi should they decide to refer their case to the CCMA? (6)

(b) Distinguish between the contemporaneous and historical inconsistencies insofar as the employer's disciplinary power over its employees is concerned. (6) [25]