Gigaba refused leave to appeal judgment
EMBATTLED Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba was dealt yet another blow after the Constitutional Court dismissed his application for leave to appeal the judgment that he lied under oath and thus violated the Constitution.
This came a day after Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane recommended that President Cyril Ramaphosa take disciplinary action against Gigaba.
She found that Gigaba lied under oath when he denied allowing Fireblade Aviation, owned by the Oppenheimer family, to operate an immigration terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.
The DA said the Constitutional Court judgment removed any basis on which Gigaba could hope to be vindicated, and left no doubt his conduct merited the “harshest sanction”.
The judgment followed three separate rulings by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, a full bench of that court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, which all found in Fireblade’s favour.
“With this decision, these legal proceedings have now concluded.
“We are satisfied with the result and the manner in which the legal process has culminated in a just and fair outcome,” said Fireblade.
Gigaba will know his fate soon after Ramaphosa said he would decide the way forward in due course.
Mkhwebane gave Ramaphosa 14 days to act against Gigaba. His spokesperson Khusela Diko said the president would study the public protector’s report and advise later on what would happen.
The ethics committee in Parliament yesterday said it would investigate Gigaba after Mkhwebane asked that his conduct be investigated on the Fireblade Aviation issue.
Co-chairperson of the ethics committee, Omie Singh, said: “It is worth noting that the report was only released yesterday (Wednesday) and the matter has not as yet been referred to the committee. It is only once the report is referred to the committee that they will be in a position to comment on it and consider possible investigation,” he said.
Opposition parties called on Ramaphosa to fire Gigaba.
DA MP John Steenhuisen said: “President Ramaphosa must not only draw the line for Gigaba, he must rid the country once and for all of this compromised minister.
“The president must begin to restore public confidence in the commitment of the government to ethical, accountable leadership by firing Gigaba.”