Major General Berning Ntlemeza reported for duty as Hawks head on Monday and was busy with his tasks‚ his lawyer Comfort Ngidi said.
“We filed our appeal papers with the Supreme Court of Appeal last week in terms of Section 18 of the Superior Courts Act. The appeal has an effect of suspending the order of the high court in Pretoria‚ which set aside his appointment as Hawks head‚” Ngidi said.
The Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom Under Law had obtained a court order earlier this month‚ enforcing the court order made on March 17 setting aside Ntlemeza’s appointment as head of Hawks.
The Superior Courts Act provides that if a court orders the execution of its judgment‚ the aggrieved party has an automatic right of appeal to the next highest court.
The Act also provides that the court hearing such an appeal must deal with it as a matter of extreme urgency but that the execution order should be automatically suspended‚ pending the outcome of the appeal.
Ngidi said there might be no legal basis to treat Ntlemeza’s case with preferential treatment in the Supreme Court of Appeal as there were many cases to be heard by that court‚ even though the Superior Courts Act stated that the appeal must be treated with urgency.