South Africa
Court dismisses Mkhwebane’s appeal in Vrede dairy farm case─── CHRISTAL-LIZE MULLER 14:40 Fri, 13 Dec 2019
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will not be allowed to appeal an order to personally pay the costs of challenging the Estina Dairy Farm court case.
The North Gauteng High Court on Friday dismissed Mkhwebane’s application to appeal an earlier order that found her office liable for 85% of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution’s (Casac) legal costs.
The Public Protector was also ordered to pay 7.5% of the costs out of her own pocket.
Judge Ronel Tolmay found that Mkhwebane failed South Africans because of the way she conducted her investigation into the Vrede dairy farm project.
Mkhwebane said she was not surprised by Judge Tolmay’s decision.
Mkhwebane's spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said that the Public Protector was not surprised by that judge's decision.
“Obviously, the Public Protector is disappointed with the outcome, but this is not the end of the road. She will be petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein to challenge the decision of the High Court – so the matter is far from over.”
