The High Court in Pretoria on Friday said Cabinet had no case to answer in the matter brought before it by the Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom Under Law (FUL) when they sought to have the appointment of Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza declared “irrational and unlawful”.
The civic bodies had cited Cabinet as a respondent alongside Ntlemeza, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko.
“… the applicants themselves seek to set aside a decision taken by the minister and not the Cabinet. Accordingly, there is no merit in the accusations leveled against the Cabinet in this application,” read part of the judgement signed off by Judges P.M Mabuse, N. Kollapen and S.A.M Baqwa.
The Gauteng North High Court on Thursday agreed with the Helen Suzman Foundation and FUL that the appointment of Ntlemeza, whom a judge has previously found to be dishonest when he lied under oath, was “irrational and unlawful”.
In the judgement it was pointed out that “conscientiousness and integrity” was a major requirement for any person aspiring for the job of head of the Hawks.
In March 2015, Judge Elias Matojane ruled that Ntlemeza “lacks integrity and honour” and had made false statements under oath. He was acting Hawks head at the time.
The police minister, however, appointed Ntlemeza to the position of head of he Hawks regardless.
On Friday the court ruled: “The decision of the minister of 10 September 2015 in terms of which Major General Ntlemeza was appointed national head of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigations is hereby reviewed and set aside.”
After the ruling, Hawks spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi, said he could not say if the judgement meant that Ntlemeza was no longer the head of the elite crime busting unit. He said the Hawks would study the judgement and the minister would make an announcement
– African News Agency (ANA)
