Cape Town - While the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has reserved its judgment for a later date, the Democratic Alliance is optimistic that Friday’s proceedings will vindicate the public protector by upholding the original Western Cape High Court ruling that the remedial action ordered by the protector cannot be ignored and must be rationally engaged by way of a proper court process, the party said.
The SCA on Friday heard the appeal of the interim relief the DA obtained in the Western Cape High Court in the matter regarding the force and effect to have the remedial action of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, as ordered in her report, enforced.
“Specifically, the public protector’s damning findings against the SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng could not be ignored, DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said.
Madonsela found in her report titled “When Governance and Ethics Fail” that he had lied about having a matric certificate, purged staff members perceived as disloyal to him, and fraudulently inflated salaries – including his own from R1.5 million to R2.4 million in one year.
Madonsela ordered that a disciplinary inquiry be instituted. All legal counsel to Motsoeneng, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, and the SABC finally agreed that the disciplinary process should be instituted into his “disastrous conduct at the SABC”, Selfe said.
“While this capitulation by the SABC cohort is a welcomed victory for the DA, it must be mentioned that this came at great cost to the DA, the public protector, and the South African taxpayer who funded the exploits of vexatious litigants that are Mr Motsoeneng, the SABC, and minister Muthambi, who agreed to the very remedies we have argued be actioned from the very beginning. This is nothing more than a tacit admittance that the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng – in the first place – is so clearly irrational.”
Similarly, the implications of this finding in the “Nkandlagate scandal” were immense, he said.
In her report on the R246 million upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private Nkandla homestead in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Madonsela ordered Zuma to pay a reasonable percentage of the costs of the non-security upgrades to his home.
“It is clear that the judgment applies to this remedial action too. The president cannot ignore the remedial action in this report.”
The DA was confident that either unsuccessful party would appeal to the Constitutional Court who would come to a final determination on the force and effect of the public protector’s remedial actions.
“The DA is confident that the SCA will uphold the part of the judgment that the remedial action of the public protector cannot be ignored but be engaged fully, rationally, and by way of a proper court process,” Selfe said.
African News Agency