Metrorail services deteriorated countrywide because of corruption.
The legal bid by former Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA) board members to set aside findings of corruption against them by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture is floundering.
This week, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya refused to grant permission to sue retired Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who had chaired the inquiry.
In terms of the Superior Courts Act, any party wishing to take legal action against a judge has to apply for consent from the Chief Justice or relevant head of court, prior to launching an application.
Former PRASA CEO Lucky Montana and board members Sfiso Buthelezi, Bridgette Gasa, Nkosinathi Khena and Mmatebogo Nkoenyane, who were all implicated in plundering at the state-owned entity by the commission, launched their review application in 2022.
However, it was only in April this year that they applied for permission. This was opposed by Zondo. In his submissions to the Chief Justice, he said the application was way out of time and therefore invalid and void.
He wrote that the “only solution to the dilemma” was for the applicants to withdraw the review application and “tender my costs in those proceedings”.
Activist group #UniteBehind, which had been given judicial permission to join the proceedings as a respondent, also strongly opposed the last-minute bid for permission.
In a letter, dated 12 May, addressed to the applicants’ attorneys, the Chief Justice noted that because they had applied for consent to sue Zondo after the launch of the application, “the request for a certification to launch legal proceedings against former Chief Justice Zondo is refused”.
The basis of the review application, which will now in all likelihood be withdrawn, was that they were not given an opportunity to counter the allegations made against them.
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