Gordhan wins interdict against ombudsman action

South Africa’s public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan won the first round in his battle with the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman, when the High Court suspended her directive that he should be censured pending a legal review of adverse findings she had made against him.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane ruled on July 7 that Gordhan misled parliament, violated the executive ethics code and oversaw an illegal intelligence unit at the national tax agency when he was finance minister, and ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa to discipline him. While Gordhan appealed the findings in court, Mkhwebane said that didn’t suspend the remedial action — an argument Judge Sulet Potterill dismissed.

Some of the disciplinary measures ordered by Mkhwebane were “vague, contradictory or nonsensical,” and would cause Gordhan irreparable harm if implemented, Potterill said at a hearing in Pretoria, the capital, on Monday. “There is no harm to the Public Protector if the remedial action is suspended pending review.”

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