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[1] Judgment on the merits in this matter was handed down on 20 May 2019, the judgment on costs was however reserved pending the Constitutional Court's (CC) judgment in The Public Protector vs South African Reserve Bank,[1] which dealt inter alia with the award of a punitive costs order awarded by the High Court[2] against the Public Protector in her official and personal capacity. That judgment was delivered on 29 July 2019, as a result this Court is now in a position to deal with the question of costs.

[2] This judgment must be read with the judgment on the merits, as that judgment is inextricably linked to the judgment on costs.[3]

[3] In the Reserve Bank judgment the CC dealt extensively with the development of the law and the circumstances which may lead to a Court awarding a personal costs order against a public official. This court can't improve on what was said so eloquently there and as a result I quote extensively from that judgment. A reading of that judgment emphasises the tests that must be applied, the importance of holding public officials accountable and the gravity of the decision that the Court must make. It is thus with due deference to all these principles that this Court approached the decision that it came to.