A PRETORIA High Court judge on Thursday accused Communications Minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri of lying when she claimed that a senior advocate appointed by her had merely attended proceedings of the SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra) as ”an interested member of the public”, Beeld newspaper reports. Judge Hekkie Daniels made the remark during argument by counsel for Hong Kong-backed consortium NextCom, which is seeking to set aside Satra’s recommendation that the Saudi-backed consortium Cell C be awarded South Africa’s third cellular service licence. Matsepe-Casaburri in February upheld the authority’s proposal. Judge Daniels remarked that he found it difficult to understand why Satra’s proceedings were Matsepe-Casaburri’s concern. If she did not trust the committee, she could have made another plan, such as changing the Act, so that she could have an observer present. Concerning claims by Matsepe-Casaburri in court documents that senior counsel Ishmael Semenya attended Satra’s proceedings as ”a member of the public”, the Judge said this was ”not only a false argument, but a blatant lie,” the newspaper said.