Pretoria News reports that the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has overturned the suspension of Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) senior official Mbuyiselo Botha.

The court declared the suspension letter and the suspension of Botha unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional. Judge Jabulani Dlamini ruled that the power to suspend a commissioner only lay in the hands of the president, and only once impeachment proceedings had been instituted by the National Assembly. Botha was suspended in August 2021 by the CGE, for allegedly insulting fellow commissioners. He is alleged to have launched a verbal attack on CGE chairperson Tamara Mathebula and another commissioner, Nomasonto Mazibuko. The remarks were allegedly recorded in a clip in which Botha was apparently heard calling Mazibuko an albino and saying that Mathebula lacked a backbone. Botha told the court that an investigation was conducted into the allegations that he had made certain remarks in breach of the commission’s code of conduct. He subsequently received a letter from CGE chairperson Tamara Mathebula, advising him that he was suspended as a commissioner with immediate effect, pending the outcome of disciplinary action. Botha said he was not issued with a final warning, he was not reprimanded to behave accordingly and, to his knowledge, the Speaker of the National Assembly had not been requested to commence proceedings to remove him.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zelda Venter at Pretoria News

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page