Hawks boss’s lawsuit: judge appointed soon

A JUDGE is expected to be allocated this week to hear argument in the legal showdown between newly appointed Hawks boss Lieutenant-General Berning Ntlemeza and suspended KZN Hawks head Johan Booysen.

Booysen, who was suspended last month by Ntlemeza while an allegation of fraud is probed against him, has referred the dispute to the police’s bargaining council for a conciliation process to persuade Ntlemeza that “if he keeps an open mind”, there is no need for his suspension.

Booysen alleges his suspension is based on a typographical error in a 2008 document recommending monetary awards to himself and members of the disbanded Cato Manor organised crime unit.

He says he was not the author of the document and he did not approve the award, and has witnesses to back him up.

Despite explaining this in detail to Ntlemeza, he had still been suspended. This, he claims, is part of an ongoing campaign to get rid of him, which has included other unsuccessful attempts to suspend him, to discipline him and to charge him criminally.

He points fingers at national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega and provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni.

Booysen accuses Ntlemeza of acting with the two of them to get rid of him, but Ntlemeza denies this.