Ex-minister’s firing of Prasa board ‘irrational’
PRETORIA High Court Judge Peter Mabuse has lambasted former transport minister Dipuo Peters for her decision to dissolve the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa)‚ describing it as irrational and inconsistent.
In his judgment yesterday‚ Mabuse found that Peters had acted irrationally by dissolving the board without giving it a fair hearing.
He set aside her decision and ordered the board’s reinstatement with immediate effect. He also set aside the appointment of the interim board.
“The minister exercised her powers arbitrarily or in a greatly unreasonable manner by not giving the members [of the board] a hearing and simply removing [them],” Mabusa said.
“A denial of a fair hearing was clearly designed to cause these directors substantial prejudice.”
The court noted that Peters’ failure to provide reasons for her decision when they were requested by the board‚ created the presumption that her decision to axe it was irrational.
“She terminated on the one hand [former Prasa acting group chief executive Collins] Letsoalo’s secondment to Prasa, thereby tacitly confirming that there were sound grounds for such termination.
“By doing so‚ the minister validated the action of the board to terminate Letsoalo’s secondment appointment at Prasa,” Mabusa said.
The court also slammed Peters for accepting Letsoalo’s version that a dispute had unfolded between him and the board‚ resulting in his sacking, and for using the “dispute” as a springboard to remove the board from office.
“These two cannot be married with each other,” Mabuse said.
He found that the minister’s decision to remove the concerned directors was so unreasonable and disproportionate as to be arbitrary and irrational.
The minister should have accepted the board’s decision rather than discipline the board for it,” he said.
“Her decision was accordingly unreasonable on that basis alone.”
The court ordered the minister to pay the costs of the application.
The department said it was studying the court’s decision and would comment at a later stage.