TimesLIVE Premium reports that Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen and his former chief of staff Roman Cabanac are headed to court as Cabanac fights to be reinstated to his R1.2m a year position, arguing that his termination in June was unlawful.

Cabanac and his lawyers had given Steenhuisen and the agriculture department until 22 August for him to be returned to his job. If that failed, they indicated they would head to court to claim loss of income damages to the extent of just over R5m, covering the five-year term he would have served from August 2024 to August 2029. Cabanac has argued that the process followed by Steenhuisen and his department was flawed, as they removed him over reasons unrelated to performance and in breach of the Public Service Act.

Cabanac, who was born in France, was apparently axed because he could not obtain a security clearance certificate required for his job, because of his dual citizenship. On Wednesday, Steenhuisen through his spokesperson said they were ready to legally defend the matter. It took the DA leader nine months between September 2024 and June 2025 to decide to fire Cabanac, who has a track record of making racist comments on social media and podcasts, after the controversial figure refused to step down when asked to do so.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thabo Mokone at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)

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