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McBride victory the latest against government at the ConCourt

Gavel
Gavel

The victory for suspended Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) executive director Robert McBride in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday is the latest of cases where government has lost before the court in the past few months.

The court set aside Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko’s decision in March last year to suspend McBride.

 It also struck down as unconstitutional parts of the Ipid Act which allowed the minister to suspend and discipline the head of Ipid.

The court also ordered the minister to pay McBride’s costs‚ a decision that McBride described as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Before the latest judgment‚ the court in March ruled in another case that the failure by President Jacob Zuma to comply with the remedial action ordered against him by the public protector concerning the improvements at his Nkandla home was inconsistent with the Constitution.

The court also ordered the president‚ the minister of police and the National Assembly to pay the costs of the applications by the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Democratic Alliance.

The Department of Home Affairs also found itself on the losing end at the Constitutional Court in February when its appeal was dismissed with costs.

The department had sought to appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal order which held that the department’s detention of 15 illegal foreigners in a prison was invalid.

The department had detained the foreign nationals unlawfully in prison pending their deportation.

The Immigration Act states that illegal foreigners must be detained in a manner and place determined by the director-general of the department. The Constitutional Court said for so long as a person was confined in a place not permitted by law‚ his or her confinement was unlawful.

In July‚ Land Access Movement of SA and other organisations notched up a victory at the Constitutional Court.

 The court declared invalid the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act 15 of 2014 and found that Parliament failed to satisfy its obligation to facilitate public involvement.

The aim of the 2014 act‚ which was declared invalid‚ was to re-open the window for the lodgement of land claims‚ which was closed in December 1998.

The organisations had demanded that the re-opening of the claims process should only occur after all outstanding claims had been settled.

Land Access Movement of SA and others challenged the failure by the National Council of Provinces and some‚ or all‚ of the provincial legislatures to facilitate adequate public participation as required by the Constitution.

The court interdicted the Commission for the Restitution on Land Rights from processing any new claims lodged after July 2014. — TMG Digital

 

 

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