The DA has been reliably informed of a failed Durban Labour Court review application – by KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Office of the Premier (OTP) – which has led to costs of R40 million, set to come from KZN’s already drained financial coffers.
The case, which originated in 2017, relates to the dismissal of a former senior provincial government official.
Documents revealed to the DA (view here) indicate that a judgement by the Labour Court dismissed the case last week, with costs. This while the earlier judgement, that the former HOD’s dismissal was substantively and procedurally unfair, was upheld.
That the matter has now cost KZN’s government a further R40 million is shocking. It is money our province can ill-afford to spend.
The issue of litigious former MECs costing our province hundreds of millions must be brought to an immediate end. Similarly, the practice of forum shopping amongst the legal fraternity, in order to pursue hopeless cases, must come to an immediate stop.
The DA calls on KZN’s new Finance MEC, Francois Rodgers to ensure such fruitless and wasteful expenditure does not continue.
We remain committed to ensuring sensible spending of the public purse, aligned with consequence management, through our role on KZN’s financial watchdog committee, SCOPA.
State resources can no longer be plundered to satisfy the egos of misguided MECs at the expense of service delivery.