Myers’ legal team walk out of disciplinary hearing

The disciplinary hearing against DA councillor and former deputy mayor Peter Myers was postponed following a walkout by his legal team when a preliminary item was dismissed by the disciplinary committee on Friday 13 April.

It is understood that the hearing will continue in absence of Myers’ legal team on 3 May.

Moments before the hearing began, the DA ruled that it will be heard behind closed doors – barring media and members of the public from attending.

Myers faces charges relating to his conduct and the alleged disclosure of privileged information.

The Federal Legal Commission (FLC) of the DA released a document containing 22 reasons why the hearing would be heard in absence of the Knysna Ratepayers’ Association and any members of the media including the public.

“It was stated that the chairperson initially ruled that the hearing would be in camera due to the fact that this was the established practice by the FLC, but it was then argued that the onus would be on the committee assistants to prove there was established practice that the said proceedings should be in camera and that no evidence supporting the existence of an existing practice has been presented to the panel,” reads the document.

In terms of public interest, the FLC stated that it should be noted that when a person applies to become a DA public representative, he or she undertakes to restrict his or her freedom of expression in terms of the federal constitution and other party policies such as the confidentiality of closed meetings and social media policy.

“An open hearing would entail that the party could suffer reputational damage that could have a negative impact on the party’s electoral prospects,” it was stated.

See the full document with all 22 reasons on www.knysnaplettherald.com.

– Yaseen Gaffar