Ntlemeza appeal postponed

9th May 2017 By: News24Wire

Ntlemeza appeal postponed

Former Hawks boss Major-General Berning Ntlemeza's application to interdict Police Minister Fikile Mbalula will now be heard on Friday instead of Tuesday, the minister's office said.

Ntlemeza's latest legal bid is seeking to interdict Mbalula from preventing him from continuing with his duties pending the outcome of his appeal against the ruling by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The initial date communicated was May 9, and it was not immediately clear what the reasons were for the matter being moved to Friday.

Mbalula told media at a briefing in April that Ntlemeza's other application to the Supreme Court of Appeal does not change the fact that a court of law found him to be unfit to lead the Hawks.

"Let me be clear to Ntlemeza - wherever he is - we are running a country, not a 'banana republic'. At least, when I am still here and Minister of Police I will not allow this nonsense," he told reporters.

Mbalula maintained that he was merely enforcing the law.

In March, the court found that then police minister Nathi Nhleko had ignored two court judgments, which found that Ntlemeza lacked integrity and honesty, when he appointed him head of the elite police unit.

The court found that the findings in both judgments constituted "direct evidence" that Ntlemeza lacked the requisite honesty, integrity, and conscientiousness to hold public office.