Shoddy paperwork sees Ntlemeza case removed from the roll

Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza had his case before the Pretoria High Court removed from the roll this morning.

Ntlemeza's legal team had wanted the court to prevent police minister‚ Fikile Mbalula‚ from stopping their client from returning to work.

Last month‚ acting on an earlier Pretoria High Court ruling‚ Mbalula sacked Ntlemeza. Ntlemeza insists that only Parliament can fire him and not the courts.

• Court 'had no right to dump Ntlemeza'Suspended Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza has felt inadequate and lacks self-esteem since the Pretoria High Court ordered his removal from office.

Judge Bill Prinsloo this morning struck the case off the urgent court roll‚ citing the disorderly nature of both Ntlemeza and Mbalula's legal papers‚ which were incorrectly paginated and not indexed properly.

He indicated that Ntlemeza could re-enrol the matter at a later stage.

Ntlemeza was appointed head of the Hawks in September 2015‚ despite then police minister Nathi Nhleko being aware of judgments questioning his fitness to hold office.

• ‘I feel inadequate and have low self-esteem‚’ Ntlemeza tells SCAAn attorney for suspended Hawks boss Major General Berning Ntlemeza has told the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein that the North Gauteng High Court did not have the jurisdiction to grant an order to remove him from office. 

In April this year‚ a full bench of the High Court in Pretoria tossed out Ntlemeza’s application for leave to appeal against an earlier ruling that he was dishonest and unfit to lead the elite crime-fighting unit. Judges Peter Mabuse‚ Selby Baqwa and Jody Kollapen in a unanimous ruling ordered in favour of civic society organisations saying that his immediate removal was in the public interest. They also awarded costs against the minister.

• Blackmail at the heart of job spat between Mbalula and Ntlemeza The fight between Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and former Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza has turned dirty — with allegations of blackmail and counter-allegations of interference in police investigations.

In March 2015‚ high court Judge Elias Matojane had ruled that Ntlemeza "lacks integrity and honour" and had made false statements under oath. Matojane made the comments in a judgment overturning the suspension of then Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya.

- TMG Digital/The Times