News24 reports that Home Affairs Director-General, Mkuseli Apleni, will be challenging his suspension by Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize, his lawyer said on Monday.  

Mkhize announced Apleni’s precautionary suspension in a short statement on Monday afternoon   No reasons were given.  Apleni was appointed to the position in 2010.  His lawyer said there were a “number of grounds” on which they would challenge the suspension and that Apleni could only be placed on suspension by the president, who ultimately hired him.  Repeatedly saying that it was a "very worrying move", Home Affairs Portfolio Committee chair Lemias Mashile commented that the decision to suspend Apleni was "a bitter pill to swallow".  The minister was in Parliament earlier in the day to answer questions regarding the granting of citizenship to members of the Gupta family.

• Read this report in full at News24
• See too, Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize suspends top official Mkuseli Apleni, at BusinessLive
• And also, No clarity from minister on Apleni suspension, at EWN

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