Mkhwebane ‘vindicated’ by dismissal of former COO’s court application

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in a statement on Thursday welcomed the decision of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to dismiss – with costs – the urgent application brought against her and her chief executive officer, Vussy Mahlangu, by former chief operations officer Basani Baloyi.

Judge Mmonoa Teffo ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.

This affirmed Mkhwebane’s position that the court ruled that the bulk of the allegations as pleaded by Baloyi “were essentially labour disputes as envisaged in the Labour Relations Act (LRA)”.

“What is in essence a labour dispute as envisaged in the LRA should not be labelled a violation of the constitutional rights in the Bill of Rights, simply because the issues raised could also support a conclusion that the conduct of the employer constitutes a violations of a right entrenched in the Constitution,” Judge Teffo ruled.

Baloyi had sought a declaratory order that the decision to terminate her employment was unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid and of no force; that the decision be set aside; that she be reinstated and that the CEO be barred from interfering with her functions. She also sought an order declaring that the public protector had violated her constitutional obligations.

“The fact that the court dismissed the application on jurisdiction means the judge – having read the papers and listened to oral arguments – was not convinced that there was any merit to claims of abuse of power and abuse of office. Had the court found there was merit to the claims, it would not have dismissed the matter,” said public protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe.

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