Gordhan’s lawyer: ‘We are soldiering on’

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s legal team will be “soldiering on”, his attorney Tebogo Malatji has said.

Malatji spoke to Fin24 by phone on Monday, following a ruling by a high court earlier that interdicted the Public Protector’s remedial actions against Gordhan.

In her judgment, Potterill established that Gordhan had a prima facie right for the remedial orders to be suspended, pending a court review of her report into the SA Revenue Service “rogue unit”.

Among the remedial actions listed was for President Cyril Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against Gordhan with 30 days. In his submission, the president said he could not carry out any actions against Gordhan while the report was still subject to review by the courts.

Now that the court has granted Gordhan an interdict, his legal team will be making more submissions to the court in relation to the review application, Malatji explained.

Gordhan is seeking the courts to declare that the Public Protector’s office and Mkhwebane personally, acted in breach of their constitutional duties to be independent and to exercise their powers and perform their functions without fear, favour or prejudice.

Further, the court must declare that the office and Mkhwebane personally, “dishonestly or, alternatively, recklessly” made findings against Gordhan, “in that they knew that the findings were false or were reckless as to their truth.”

Gordhan also want the Public Protector’s office and Mkhwebane to be responsible for the costs of the application.

No date has been set for the matter to be heard, Malatji said.

Meanwhile the EFF has said it will approach the Constitutional Court to appeal the interdict. Malatji said this application could also delay the hearing of the review, which he expects could take place in the fourth quarter of the year.

“We will be soldiering on,”‘ he said. “We will get back to the courts expeditiously,” he added.

The Public Protector’s office has not yet responded to Fin24’s request for comment.