OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday
WHILE South Africa’s corruption-busting superhero Judge Willem Heath has had his wings clipped by the Constitutional Court, early indications are that his Special Investigative Unit (SIU) will continue its work.
The Heath Commission has recovered about R314m for the state since it began its work three years ago, but Heath will now have to choose between the bench and heading the SIU, according to the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
The Court said Heath cannot be a judge and an investigator at the same time, because it blurred the lines between the executive and the judiciary, and has given the government a year to amend the legislation in terms of which he was appointed, and to find a successor.
The Court’s judgement, delivered by its president Arthur Chaskalson, means that Heath may be able to resign from the judiciary to carry on his work at the unit. However, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna has indicated that he would not support such a move, The Star reported.
The newspaper quoted Maduna’s representative, Paul Setsetse, as saying: “In terms of the law, he will have to go back to the bench. That is our position.”
Maduna has in the past criticised Judge Heath, saying his unit had grown beyond the purpose originally envisaged by the government.
Setsetse said the judgment, which came as the SIU was preparing to become involved in an investigation of the government’s controversial multibillion-rand arms deal, would not immediately affect the unit’s existing workload.
According to the judgment, the SIU is currently investigating 221 580 cases involving about 100 organs of state and extending over all nine provinces. About R3bn was at stake, Chaskalson said.
He added that Judge Heath could not be faulted for accepting the position as SIU head.
Reacting to the judgment, Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille said Heath should be guaranteed the job of heading the SIU should he resign as a judge.
If the unit had to be headed by someone who was not a judge, Heath should be given the chance to resign as a judicial officer and remain in the post as unit chief, she said.
The challenge to Heath came from an application by the SA Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Saapil), which protested when President Thabo Mbeki asked the SIU to investigate allegations that some attorneys acting for Road Accident Fund claimants were not paying their clients all the compensation due to them.