Former Baroka coach Kgoloko Thobejane and the club are due for an arbitration hearing at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) after a conciliation process failed.

Thobejane has taken his former employers to the CCMA claiming he was unfairly dismissed.

He was fired early last month for allegedly drinking on the job on February 3. Thobejane was fired alongside captain Olaleng Shaku and goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.

The goalkeeper coach of their Multichoice Diski Challenge side, Tshegofatso Machoene, and kit manager Delbert Lekoana were also shown the door.

At this stage Thobejane is the only one who appears to be fighting his dismissal. He appeared before the CCMA in Polokwane last week.

According to our source, Baroka did not pitch at the CCMA. Attempts to get an explanation for their absence from club chief executive Morgan Mammila failed yesterday because his phone rang unanswered.

Thobejane also declined to comment.

"For now I don't have anything to say to you, sorry my brother. Maybe after two, three or four months," Thobejane told Sowetan.

In terms of CCMA procedures, an attempt will first be made to try to resolve the issues between the two parties in what is called a conciliation process.

"When conciliation fails, a party may request the CCMA to resolve the dispute by arbitration," the CCMA says on its website. "At an arbitration hearing, a commissioner gives both parties an opportunity to fully state their cases. The commissioner then makes a decision on the issue in dispute. The decision, called the arbitration award, is legally binding on both parties."