The Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed an application by the public protector for leave to appeal against a high court judgement which set aside her report on the early retirement of SA Revenue Service (SARS) official Ivan Pillay.
On Wednesday, Justices Jody Kollapen, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Steven Majiedt, Rammaka Mathopo, Nonkosi Mhlantla, Dunstan Mlambo, Leona Theron and Zukisa Tshiqi, dismissed advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application with costs as it bore “no reasonable prospects of success”.
In September 2021, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Mkhwebane’s application appealing the setting aside of her 2019 report into South African Revenue Service (SARS) deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay’s suspension package.
Her report found the allegations that Gordhan irregularly approved the early retirement of Pillay, with full benefits, and his subsequent retention at SARS, were substantiated. The report also found that Gordhan’s conduct was not proper as envisaged by the Public Protector Act.
In her remedial action, the Public Protector recommended the president to take appropriate disciplinary action against Gordhan for failing to uphold the values and principles of public administration entrenched in Section 195 of the Constitution and the duty conferred on members of the Cabinet to act in accordance with the Constitution, in terms of Section 92(3)(a).
In 2020, the court ruled that Mkhwebane’s findings that Pravin Gordhan acted unlawfully, had been irrational, as had her recommendations. The court said Mkhwebane made a material error of law when she concluded that Gordhan’s approval in 2010 of Pillay’s pension package had been improper. Gordhan was still the finance minister at the time.
The Public Protector’s Office has spent R52 million defending her reports in court and R14.9 million warding off her impeachment inquiry process.
Source: News24, Times Live Daily Maverick, image from Twitter