Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has welcomed Friday’s Constitutional Court ruling that his interdict against the Public Protector was just and equitable.
Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) lost their appeal against the interdict, which Gordhan had obtained from the High Court.
The minister sought to suspend an order of remedial action regarding the alleged South African Revenue Service (Sars) rogue unit while he took the Public Protector’s findings on review.
Gordhan was happy that the Constitutional Court did not agree with the Public Protector that the granting of an interim interdict would interfere with her constitutional duties.
In a statement, his lawyer Tebogo Malatji said that Mkhwebane was not rendered ineffective because the Sars investigation had been completed, the report was finalised and published and the interim interdict was sought only to protect Gordhan’s rights.
The court found that interim interdicts against the Public Protector’s remedial action pending judicial review did not require a special test to be applied by the courts, as argued by the EFF.
Malatji said that the Constitutional Court judgment reaffirmed the rights of persons to obtain interim relief, even against the Public Protector and Gordhan obtained the interdict to protect his right not to be subjected to, amongst others, undefined disciplinary action by the president.