The formal handover of the first part of the state capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa will proceed as planned on Tuesday afternoon.
The high court in Johannesburg has dismissed with costs an eleventh-hour application to stop the handover of the report to Ramaphosa.
Judge Avrielle Maier-Frawley struck Democracy in Action’s urgent bid to stop acting chief justice Raymond Zondo from handing over the report from the roll.
Maier-Frawley said she would provide reasons for her order in writing to parties by no later than next Monday but added this was a self-created urgency and said Democracy in Action also failed to adhere to procedural requirements of practice directives of the court.
The merits of the case were not heard, but parties did put forward arguments on the urgency of the case.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, for the state capture commission, told the court that Democracy in Action was guilty of “self-created urgency” in trying to block the report being handed over. He labelled their case as reckless, frivolous and shoddy abuse of the urgency of the matter.
“This is pure political posturing. It was known since the beginning of the commission that the reports will be handed over to the president as mandated by the public protector’s report. The public protector made it clear that the report must be presented to the president,” Ngcukaitobi said.
Advocate Sizo Dlali argued in response that Democracy in Action was acting in the public interest and should not be punished for only approaching the court now. Dlali said Democracy in Action had tried numerous times to raise its objections with the handing of the report to Ramaphosa, as he had been implicated by witnesses during the hearings.
Advocate Timothy Bruinders SC for Ramaphosa and deputy president David Mabusa, asked Maier-Frawley to strike the application from the roll, and award a special costs order because of the self-created urgency.
“What is lacking is the explanation why it took the applicants a year before it brought its application to the court. The timeline of events has always been public, this is a clear case of self-created urgency. It was always known that the report will be handed to the president,” Bruinders said.
Bruinders told the court that Ramaphosa had already received an electronic copy of the first part of the report. “What the applicant is concerned with is that there are allegations which implicate the president. The allegations of state capture. The concern with those allegations must relate to the implementation of the recommendations of the report. That is something that can be dealt with later on,” Bruinders said.
Ngcukaitobi also submitted that Ramaphosa was not receiving the report as an implicated party, but rather as the head of state.
TimesLIVE
State capture report handover to go ahead as court challenge fails
Image: Veli Nhlapo
The formal handover of the first part of the state capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa will proceed as planned on Tuesday afternoon.
The high court in Johannesburg has dismissed with costs an eleventh-hour application to stop the handover of the report to Ramaphosa.
Judge Avrielle Maier-Frawley struck Democracy in Action’s urgent bid to stop acting chief justice Raymond Zondo from handing over the report from the roll.
Maier-Frawley said she would provide reasons for her order in writing to parties by no later than next Monday but added this was a self-created urgency and said Democracy in Action also failed to adhere to procedural requirements of practice directives of the court.
The merits of the case were not heard, but parties did put forward arguments on the urgency of the case.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, for the state capture commission, told the court that Democracy in Action was guilty of “self-created urgency” in trying to block the report being handed over. He labelled their case as reckless, frivolous and shoddy abuse of the urgency of the matter.
“This is pure political posturing. It was known since the beginning of the commission that the reports will be handed over to the president as mandated by the public protector’s report. The public protector made it clear that the report must be presented to the president,” Ngcukaitobi said.
Advocate Sizo Dlali argued in response that Democracy in Action was acting in the public interest and should not be punished for only approaching the court now. Dlali said Democracy in Action had tried numerous times to raise its objections with the handing of the report to Ramaphosa, as he had been implicated by witnesses during the hearings.
Advocate Timothy Bruinders SC for Ramaphosa and deputy president David Mabusa, asked Maier-Frawley to strike the application from the roll, and award a special costs order because of the self-created urgency.
“What is lacking is the explanation why it took the applicants a year before it brought its application to the court. The timeline of events has always been public, this is a clear case of self-created urgency. It was always known that the report will be handed to the president,” Bruinders said.
Bruinders told the court that Ramaphosa had already received an electronic copy of the first part of the report. “What the applicant is concerned with is that there are allegations which implicate the president. The allegations of state capture. The concern with those allegations must relate to the implementation of the recommendations of the report. That is something that can be dealt with later on,” Bruinders said.
Ngcukaitobi also submitted that Ramaphosa was not receiving the report as an implicated party, but rather as the head of state.
TimesLIVE
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