The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria will today pronounce judgment on the urgent application filed by disgraced former Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza in his attempt to be allowed to return to work pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Yesterday, after hearing opposing submissions of Ntlemeza and Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, Judge Sheila Mphahlele said she would deliver judgment this morning.
Earlier, vehemently opposing Ntlemeza’s application to return to the helm of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, Mbalula’s legal representative, Advocate Nazeer Cassim, said the disgraced senior police officer had no leg to stand on.
“The applicant is on full pay. His appeal hearing is set down for the 2nd of June. When this application was launched, we had no knowledge of when the appeal would be heard. What they are now doing is scoring power politic points. The matter is going to be heard two weeks from now in the SCA. The matter will then be fully ventilated there. Until then, there is an order of court that he (Ntlemeza) can't go back to work,” Cassim submitted.
“How can my learned friend (representative for Ntlemeza, Advocate Nceba Dukada) make the submission that there is a degradation of his status if he is not back at work? He is lucky he is being paid while his appeal is pending. One thing, at best for him is to say, until my appeal is heard I am entitled to my salary. Well, he is getting his salary.”
Dukada told Judge Mphahlele that Mbalula had illegally and prematurely elbowed Ntlemeza out of office.
“If Your Ladyship (Judge Mphahlele) were to strike out this application today, it would be tantamount to saying that the perpetual illegal conduct of the first respondent (Mbalula) which is occurring daily since the filing of the SCA appeal, should be condoned, swept under the carpet and nothing should be done,” Dukada argued.
Dukada said that since Ntlemeza had filed the SCA appeal, that action automatically suspended the enforcement order of the High Court which removed him from office.
Legal counsel told the court that Mbalula’s conduct was causing reputational damage to Ntlemeza.
“The applicant has also mentioned the conduct of the first respondent (Mbalula) on national television concerning the conduct of the applicant. These utterances need to desist forthwith to enable the applicant to prepare his appeal properly,” Dukada said.