In the DA’s quest for Mpshe’s decision to be set aside, there were two interlocutory applications (which contributed to the lengthy delays). Together, these applications took 54 months to deal with, four years roughly.

The first interlocutory application was a challenge by the NDPP and Zuma to the locus standi (standing) of the DA to bring the application to set aside Mpshe’s decision. 

When the matter returned to the High Court after this was dealt with, Zuma and the NDPP did not want to include the review record for the DA to have access to the parts of the spy tapes that Mpshe based his decision on. 

This led to another interlocutory application, this time by the DA, to compel the inclusion of the spy tapes records. 

Finally, in April 2016, the court heard the DA’s application for Mpshe’s decision to be set aside.

“Whatever the motive of the litigation was, the effect was to delay the prosecution,” Trengove tells the court. 

The City of Tshwane picked up the tab for its embattled municipal manager Moeketsi Mosola’s legal fees when he wanted to interdict the release of a report showing irregularities in the awarding of the GladAfrica tender, News24 can reveal.

That the municipality has covered Mosola’s fees in the case against it has been something of an open secret for some time. But News24 can for the first time reveal that this was confirmed in writing in internal municipal communication.

There is fierce disagreement among senior municipal officials over the legality of the assistance provided to Mosola. There is even fiercer disagreement over the ethics of the issue, given that it was Mosola who took the City to court of his own volition.

The case is central to the fight over whether Mosola should keep his job. His detractors have tried to have him suspended because of his role in signing off the Glad Africa project management tender, which was found by the Auditor-General to be irregular.

Law firm Bowmans was appointed to probe the Glad Africa tender last year, and found there were irregularities in the procurement process.

But before that report could be tabled in the Tshwane council, Mosola obtained an interdict in the Labour Court stopping its release, in October 2018.

Also read: Tshwane ANC rejects mayor Mokgalapa’s ‘corrupt golden handshake’ in GladAfrica scandal

At issue was whether former mayor Solly Msimanga, the City and the Speaker of the Council had taken the correct technical and procedural steps in their efforts to have Mosola suspended over his role in approving the Glad Africa tender.

Only the city council can suspend the City Manager, and so the tabling of the Bowman’s report in Council was important for those who wanted to remove him.

Correspondence seen by News24 illustrates how a legal advisor in Msimanga’s office questioned whether it was proper for the municipality to pay Mosola’s legal fees last year, and again in February this year. Mosola has been using the services of private Johannesburg-based law firm, Leslie Cohen & Associates.

The correspondence shows that the advisor wrote to Marna Kock, Tshwane’s Group Head for Legal Services and Lorette Tredoux, Governance and Support Officer, in October 2018, asking whether Mosola was receiving legal assistance from the municipality.

Kock responded saying that, as Chief Legal Counsel at the municipality, she had decided to grant Mosola legal assistance in terms of Section 109a of the Municipal Systems Act. That section says that a municipality may provide assistance to an employee if action has been taken against them over something that occurred during the course of their duties. Legal assistance can also be provided to an employee if they are summoned to an inquest or inquiry stemming from the performance of their duties.

But the advisor disagreed with Kock, and said that the legal assistance to Mosola fell outside the scope of that section, and was “irregular and unlawful”.

“No legal proceedings have been instituted against (Mosola) nor has he been summoned to attend any inquests or inquiry. In fact, (Mosola) is acting in his personal capacity for private purposes against the City … all expenses paid in this regard will constitute irregular expenditure,” the advisor warned.

Also read: We tried to pull out of Tshwane contract in November – GladAfrica

In February, he further warned that there was a raft of statutory, regulatory provisions and labour agreements, which he explained in detail to Kock, showing that the City Manager did not qualify for legal assistance. 

He wrote: “Disciplinary matters do not fall under the proceedings as envisaged by Section 109a. It would in fact lead to an absurdity if every employee against whom disciplinary investigations and procedures are instituted is entitled to City legal aid/assistance/representation.” 

Kock replied that any concerns over the exercise of her duties should be taken up with Mosola and Tredoux and that she reserved her rights, in the event that the email exchange was used in any future disciplinary action against her. 

News24 was reliably informed that the municipality had a budget of R66 million for legal fees for the 2018/19 financial year, as of June 2018. At the time of writing, the municipality had spent about R61 million of this budget.

It is not clear how much of this pertains to Mosola’s own legal costs. As is the case with most municipalities, Tshwane is involved in several other legal disputes, including one over the controversial Peu Smart Meter systems – a dispute which began in the previous administration but was only resolved in court late last year.

There has been no final judgment in Labour Court case, and News24 was reliably informed that the parties are in talks to possibly reach an out-of-court settlement. The municipality did not respond to a formal request for an update on the case.

In response to an SMS asking whether settlement talks were underway, Tshwane Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa said: “Receiving legal opinion and legal advice”.

The Tshwane municipality had not responded by the time of publication. This article will be updated to reflect its response once it has been received. 

South Africa’s leading home appliance repair and maintenance brand is poised for spectacular growth thanks to the success of two pro-business processes introduced by local lawmakers. The firm used both the Department of Trade and Industry’s ‘business rescue’ legislation and the SARS Section 12J tax incentive scheme to shake off recent trading difficulties and emerge revitalised, ready to create jobs and contribute meaningfully to the broader economy.

A Cape Town Labour Court judge has died after he was bitten by a black mamba while on holiday in Zambia.

Judge Anton Steenkamp, 57, was doing what he loved, touring Africa with his wife, Catherine, when he was bitten by the snake on Monday, the family said.

“We are devastated. No words. What an incredible man. His wife, Catherine, is still on her own in Zambia. They were touring Africa. We as a family were very, very proud of him,” relative Ruby Steenkamp told News24.

His close friends have described him as a man of integrity, one who was kind and generous to people he came across.

Close friend Charles Leonard, the arts editor at The Conversation Africa, said Steenkamp was his comrade from the 1980s, when they were students. Leonard described Steenkamp as an “exceptional” person.

He said while Steenkamp was kind, generous, loyal and committed to bettering more than just society, he also had an exceptional brain, and was one of the finest on the bench.

“He was a progressive person, truly committed to a non-racial society. I’m totally devastated. We used to chat almost every day on the phone,” he said.

Although Steenkamp was based in Cape Town, he would not miss meeting up with Leonard when he was on duty at the Johannesburg Labour Court.

“He and his wife Catherine were doing what he loved so much – touring through his beloved Africa,” he said.

Steenkamp’s friend, well-known journalist and author, Anneliese Burgess said she was “bewildered” by the news of his death.

“We are absolutely devastated. None of us can begin to comprehend what has happened. He was such a brilliant man, and such a mensch,” Burgess said.

Burgess recalled that the last time she saw Steenkamp was at her book launch in Cape Town in 2018. She was “so touched” that he had made an effort to be at the launch.

“‘Stenie’ as he was known to all of us old Stellenbosch lefties was simply one of the best people I knew, and I am completely devastated at the news of his passing,” she said.

Author, columnist and documentary filmmaker Max du Preez said Steenkamp was a student activist, and when he finished studying towards his LLB degree, he went and worked for anti-apartheid Afrikaans national weekly newspaper, Vrye Weekblad because he strongly believed in the fight against apartheid and for democracy.

“When we closed our doors he went back into the legal profession and he became one of the youngest judges ever. When I think of him, if someone asks ‘what does integrity mean?’ i say go and look at Anthon Steenkamp,” he said.

Du Preez said Steenkamp also had a fun side of him and was adventurous and always travelled.