/ 2 August 2013

Arms body judge Legodi bows out

Arms Body Judge Legodi Bows Out

Several sources familiar with the events linked to his decision, say Legodi was pushed to resign as he was sidelined by the commission chairperson, Judge Willie Seriti, who allegedly ran a clandestine operation and did not consult him.

A series of events, including an incident in which Seriti issued of a "confidential" policy directive to staff, apparently led Legodi to hand in his notice.

The policy directive was aimed at Legodi and undermined his position, the sources claim.

Legodi was asked to stay on at the commission to preserve its credibility after he consulted Justice Minister Jeff Radebe last week but he apparently felt he needed to preserve his integrity.

There were concerns about whether the commission could survive another crisis, especially after the departure in January of senior researcher Mokgale Norman Moabi, who claimed in his resignation letter that Seriti had a second agenda and was running a covert operation.

Legodi is expected to go quietly and return to his job as a judge of the North Gauteng High Court.

The commission declined to comment on his resignation and President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, had not responded to questions at the time of going to press.

Legal sources say Legodi could lose out on promotions by quitting but he was upset by the secretive goings-on at the commission.  

What apparently irked him and others was Seriti's policy directive, marked "confidential", which had been sent to all staff. It was issued in June after Legodi tried to assist a young clerk, Thembi Zulu, who he apparently thought was being treated unfairly.

Zulu had fallen into disfavour after she informed a supplier that newspapers delivered to the commission should be cancelled. However, the newspapers continued to be delivered in April to the cash-strapped commission, which recently asked for another R20-million to keep going.

Although the newspaper order was eventually stopped, the office manager, Samkelo Hlat­shwayo, who is believed to be related by marriage to Seriti, allegedly decided to punish the lowly paid Zulu, telling her to buy newspapers for Seriti and the commission from her own pocket. It is believed she bought copies of the New Age, which is owned by the politically connected Gupta family, and the Pretoria News, as she feared for her job.

Several sources claim Hlatshwayo is Seriti's wife's niece but the commission would not confirm it. Questions sent to the commission by the Mail & Guardian went unanswered.

Seriti's policy directive began: "As a rule, commissioners should avoid getting involved in disputes relating to the commission's staff (save for their own secretaries) and should advise staff members approaching them with work-related complaints to follow the proper reporting lines."

It went on to lay out the rules, one of which read: "Commissioners should avoid acting on complaints that are picked up in the grapevine but rather wait to be approached directly by whoever has a complaint."

The incident involving Zulu has apparently sparked a furore at the commission, which was set up in 2011 by Zuma after Terry Crawford-Browne, the arms deal activist, forced his hand.

The former banker took Zuma to court to have the corruption allegations made against ANC officials and others arising from the 1999 multibillion-rand arms deal investigated by a commission of inquiry.