A South African court held that Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba violated
the constitution in statements he made about his decision to revoke his
approval of a
company’s bid to open a private airport immigration facility.
The judgment is the latest legal blow to a senior South African
government official and came with new President Cyril Ramaphosa considering a
cabinet reshuffle after replacing scandal-plagued predecessor Jacob Zuma on
Feb. 14.
Handed down in December, the judgment only came to public light on
Tuesday.
Gigaba, whose job security under Ramaphosa is unclear, said he would
challenge the decision.
The judgment was issued after an application by Fireblade Aviation, a
company owned by the wealthy Oppenheimer family, seeking to compel Gigaba to
stick to his decision while home affairs minister to allow the firm to operate
an immigration service for wealthy VIPs at Johannesburg’s main airport.
The court ruling reversed Gigaba’s decision to revoke his approval,
saying that the minister had lied in having “denied ever having approved the
application”.
“By telling a deliberate untruth on facts central to the decision of this
case, the minister has committed a breach of the constitution so serious that I
would characterise it as a violation,” the ruling read.
Speaking to the media in Cape Town ahead of his budget speech to
parliament, Gigaba said: “My lawyers are studying the judgment and we will
respond to it in due time.
“It’s important to highlight that the decision of the court is being
challenged.”
The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party, said that based
on the judgment, it had filed a complaint against Gigaba with the Public
Protector, South Africa’s constitutionally-mandated anti-graft watchdog.
(Reuters/NAN)
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