/ 14 January 2011

Minister narrowly avoids contempt charge

Minister Narrowly Avoids Contempt Charge

Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and officials in her department narrowly avoided potential contempt of court action for ignoring a court order.

The high court issued an order on January 5 this year instructing Joemat-Pettersson and the officials to issue three abalone permits that had been unlawfully withheld by the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

The contempt of court application was set down as an urgent application to be heard on Friday. But department spokesperson Selby Bokaba said his department had not refused to comply with the court order. “The permits are not being withheld; they were issued on Wednesday this week,” he said, pointing out that the parties had reached a settlement.

Bokaba said the issue of the permits was now being fully investigated, including the attempted exportation of abalone without an export permit. “Further administrative action will be taken if necessary.”

Marine consultants Feike Natural Resource Management Advisors, with Shaun Hangone of the law firm Von Lieres Cooper Barlow Attorneys, applied for an order against the fisheries department last year after it advised Scott Russell, a member of the South African Abalone Industry Association and an abalone right- holder, that his permits would not be issued.

In court papers Feike argued that no reasons were given and that Russell was not allowed to make any representations. He was also allegedly not informed whether he had breached any provision of relevant legislation, the permit conditions or fisheries regulations.

“His permits would simply not be issued,” Feike director Shaheen Moolla said. “In spite of numerous attempts to get answers from [department] officials, Russell’s urgent request for the reasons why his permits were being withheld were simply ignored.”

The court agreed with Feike and Russell and ordered Joemat-Pettersson to issue the three permits before January 10.

“The minister and her officials simply proceeded to ignore the order,” said Moolla, calling on Feike’s webpage for the minister to resign.

Joemat-Pettersson then narrowly avoided potential contempt of court action by issuing the permits, and agreeing to pay Russell’s legal costs three days after the deadline set by the original judgement.

Bokaba said the permits were not issued because levies on the previous season’s abalone catch had not been paid. But Moolla said the court order was “peremptory and binding” and did not make the issue of the permits subject to the payment of levies.

Clarification
A previous version of this article we reported that Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson would have to explain to the Cape High Court why she should not be charged with contempt for ignoring an order it had issued compelling the Fisheries department to grant three abalone permits to Scott Russell.

In the same article we quoted Joemat-Pettersson’s spokesperson Selby Bokaba as saying that the permits had now been issued, following an out-of-court settlement with Russell.

This may have caused some confusion. The story ought to have said that Joemat-Pettersson had narrowly avoided potential contempt of court action by issuing the permits, and agreeing to pay Russell’s legal costs three days after the deadline set by the original judgement.