DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Monday
JUDGE Willem Heath, former head of the Special Investigation Unit, has denied a Sunday Times report suggesting that he is out to secure a substantial discharge payment from government.
According to Sunday reports, the Judges Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act entitles him, after being discharged by the president, to a “golden handshake”, continued monthly salary and retention of his judicial status.
In a Sunday press release, Heath said that though the Act might entitle him to these things, “nowhere in my request have I demanded that they be met. I have merely requested a discharge and this decision lies with the President.”
He said that he is indeed planning to enter the private investigative sector, should Mbeki discharge him, as he feels distanced from the bench after six years’ absence.
Heath also pointed out possible problems of conflicts of interest should he return to the bench after having been involved in an investigative role. He said he has no plans, as a matter of personal principle, to use the title “judge” after having left the service of the state.
“During the past six years I believe that I have served the South African public … My integrity and credibility are worth far more than demanding any ‘golden handshake’, monthly salary or title,” he said.
The Special Investigation Unit has been charged with probing public sector corruption over the last six years. Heath’s leadership of the unit was recently judged unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, and he has stepped aside from active duty with the unit.
ZA*NOW:
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