A high court judge has ordered that the massive Pillay Commission report on alleged financial irregularities in the Eastern Cape government be scrapped.
”The report is declared a nullity and of no force and effect,” Grahamstown Judge Daylan Chetty said in a ruling handed down on Monday.
The decision followed a challenge by former premier Makhenkesi Stofile (now minister of sport), former provincial minister of economic affairs Enoch Godongwana (now deputy minister of public enterprises) and two other senior African National Congress politicians from the province, Stone Sizani and Mcebisi Jonas.
The report, compiled by a three-person commission chaired by Judge Ronnie Pillay, was commissioned in 2005 by Stofile’s successor, Nosimo Balindlela.
Chetty found that although Pillay signed off on the report in June 2007, Balindlela had issued no proclamation to extend the commission’s life beyond September 2006.
He had grave doubts about the validity of an ”administrative extension” to December that year.
”It is axiomatic that, even assuming a valid extension to December 31 2006, the commission could not conduct any inquiries beyond that date for the simple reason that it had ceased to exist,” Chetty said.
”As a necessary corollary, it likewise had no power to produce a report.”
Chetty said the requirement of procedural fairness was ”simply ignored” by the commission.
The document not only contained allegations of financial impropriety and fraud on the part of the applicants and some of their family members, but made ”positive findings of fact” on those issues.
However, they were never told about the allegations, or given a chance to respond.
”I am satisfied that on this ground too the applicants are entitled to the relief sought,” Chetty said.
He said the four men claimed Balindlela had leaked the contents of the report in order to embarrass them politically.
If this was correct, it would support their claim that the report should be scrapped.
However, in view of the conclusion he had reached on other aspects, it was unnecessary to make a finding on this issue.
Balindlela last year quit the ANC and has aligned herself with the Congress of the People.
Though the premier’s office initially indicated it would fight the bid to have the report scrapped, it did not file any papers of substance, leaving the application effectively unopposed.
The commissioners said they would abide by the decision of the court.
Balindlela’s office said last year that the report totalled 12 volumes, one for each provincial department, plus a separate executive summary of about 100 pages.
It reportedly cost the taxpayer about R10-million. — Sapa