An urgent application to have the dismissal of four senior South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists set aside was postponed in the Labour Court in Johannesburg to allow the SABC to file answering affidavits.

Judge Robert Le Grange was visibly not impressed with the SABC’s legal representative, advocate Bantubonke Tokota.

"Your client has to realise that the business of the court comes first. I find it difficult to understand that your client did not make themselves available to give instructions to you," he told Tokota.

"You client should have anticipated something like this when they decided to dismiss people on Monday."

Four of the eight journalists, who were suspended and sacked by the SABC for opposing its ban on footage showing violent protests in which state property was destroyed, are challenging their dismissal and demanding in the urgent application to be reinstated immediately. They are also seeking a cost order against the SABC.

The fired journalists – Jacques Steenkamp, Krivani Pillay, Suna Venter and Foeta Krige, represented by trade union Solidarity, were in court.

With the SABC having conceded in the high court on Wednesday and agreed to reverse the ban of violent footage, Solidarity said it believed it had a strong case against the public broadcaster.

All eight were sent termination letters by the public broadcaster on Monday. They have also approached the Constitutional Court for direct access and to have the controversial editorial decision reversed.

Their legal representative advocate, Steve Budlender agreed to the request for a postponement.

In a surprising move in the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday, the SABC made a u-turn and said it would rescind its decision not to show violent protest footage in a case brought before court by the Helen Suzman Foundation. The public broadcaster negotiated and reached a settlement with the HSF in court.

The SABC has been under fire over the decision to ban footage of violent protests that was implemented a few weeks ago as the country prepares for local government elections on August 3. Opposition parties say it smacks of censorship.

Chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC board had stuck to their guns, saying the decision to ban such footage was not going to be reversed as recommended by the Independent Communication Authority of SA.

Motsoeneng was adamant that "no one tells the SABC what to do".