Cape Town - The Labour Court dismissed Marcel Golding’s attempt to overturn his suspension as chairman of investment company Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd and halt disciplinary proceedings against him.
Hosken acted within the law when it expelled Golding and initiated an enquiry into the purchase of shares in television- equipment maker Ellies Holdings Ltd, Judge Anton Steenkamp said in the court in Cape Town today.
The ruling came after Barbara Hogan, a former South African minister of public enterprises, resigned from the Hosken board.
Hosken suspended Golding last week for the purchase of shares in Ellies, which the company said was unauthorised.
Golding said his opposition to political interference over the news agenda of Hosken-controlled broadcaster e.tv is the real reason behind his suspension.
Golding “has adequate alternative remedies at his disposal, and the harm that he may suffer should the disciplinary hearing proceed is not irreparable,” Steenkamp said.
Golding’s allegations of political interference at e.tv, while serious, were not relevant to the enquiry, he said.
Hogan resigned as a non-executive director with immediate effect, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement today.
She wasn’t immediately available for comment when contacted by phone.
Hosken shares were 0.7 percent lower at 149 rand as of 12 pm in Johannesburg.
Hosken is a black-empowerment investment company, set up to take advantage of legislation seeking to make up for discrimination in the apartheid era, when non-white South Africans were hindered from participating in the economy.
The laws include compelling the sale of stakes in companies to non- white South Africans. - Bloomberg News