Challenge by former public protector COO is dismissed

The Pretoria high court has dismissed former public protector COO Basani Baloyi’s urgent challenge to her firing, which she argued was driven by ulterior and politically motivated purposes.

BusinessLIVE reported that Baloyi said she was removed because she stood in the way of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and her CEO, Vussy Mahlangu, “using their powers for their personal advancement”. 

Mkhwebane denied this, and contended that Baloyi’s employment was terminated because of her poor performance. Her advocate, Dali Mpofu, further argued that Baloyi should have taken her case to the labour court, as it was essentially a labour dispute.

Baloyi had sought to urgently challenge her removal in the high court.

That application was dismissed on Thursday morning.