Nkandla: union threatens to go to court

March 2014 Nkandla Jacob Zuma's residence

March 2014 Nkandla Jacob Zuma's residence

Published Nov 3, 2014

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Durban - While the media are preparing for a fight to defend their right to report on the Nkandla hearings under way in Durban, the union representing 12 officials charged with misconduct relating to the construction of President Jacob Zuma’s home is threatening to go to court.

The Mercury and other titles in the Independent Media group are among those fighting to continue reporting freely on the hearing about how R246 million was spent upgrading Zuma’s home.

This comes after the media were barred from the hearing last week and told to make a new application for access.

The battle between the state and the Public Servants Association union is also becoming fraught with a meeting scheduled for Tuesday to resolve a host of legal issues.

The union will demand that former Public Works minister Geoff Doidge, his deputy, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, retired SA National Defence Force surgeon-general Vijay Ramlakan and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela be called to testify.

“If these demands are not met we are taking the matter to court,” said the association’s labour relations officer, Roshan Lil-Ruthan

The union also wants the department to nullify security clauses signed by the officials before they began working on Nkandla.

This would give them the freedom to defend themselves. It also wants access to classified documents.

Lil-Ruthan said the officials were finding it hard to defend themselves with these issues unresolved.

“A meeting is taking place between myself and head of legal services from the department and my attorneys,” said Lil-Ruthan.

City Press reported on Sunday that the department would discuss a “settlement proposal” this week with lawyers for the affected workers.

Joseph Masilo, the legal adviser for the Department of Public Works, told The Mercury on Sunday that the settlement proposal would be around the union’s demands.

“We are not dropping the charges. The union had written to us requesting a meeting to discuss settlement,” he said.

However, Lil-Ruthan said he was unaware of a settlement proposal. He said he had only written a letter asking for a meeting to address legal issues before the hearing.

“It is even difficult for me to discuss this settlement with my clients because there is no settlement offered to us,” he said.

But Masilo said the department had received a letter from the officials’ lawyers requesting a meeting over settlement. He said the department did not know what the union had meant about the settlement.

“It is not the department that wants the settlement. It is lawyers that represent the workers that want settlement,” he said.

The Mercury

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