GroundUp reports that Gugulethu Yako, the suspended legal manager at the National Lotteries Commision (NLC), who is facing charges of taking money from a grant beneficiary, has failed in an urgent court bid to stop disciplinary proceedings against her.

South Gauteng Acting High Court Judge Johan Moorcroft last week dismissed her application and ordered Yako to pay punitive costs. He noted: “It is impossible to avoid the inference that this application is a tactic to delay, rather than finalise the disciplinary proceedings in good time.” Yako sought orders setting aside a decision to suspend her and institute disciplinary proceedings ahead of a review application in which she seeks to overturn the findings of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) against her. Yako was suspended by the head of the NLC Jodi Scholtz in October 2023. She was charged in December and informed in January that advocate Mandla Mkhatshwa had been appointed to preside over the disciplinary hearing. Judge Moorcroft noted that the urgent application had been brought some six months after her suspension and “no explanation is provided for this delay”. Yako also challenged the appointment of Advocate Mkhatshwa, which the judge said had no merit. Yako furthermore complained that she had been suspended by Scholtz and not by the board, but the chairperson of the board confirmed that it had approved the action.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp

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