SABC staff withdraw intervention
2008-07-08 16:20
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Johannesburg - SABC employees on Tuesday withdrew an application to intervene in the court challenge against chief executive Dali Mpofu's third suspension.
Advocate Michael Naidoo, who earlier lodged an application to intervene, told the court the employees might make a similar application at a later stage but would no longer pursue it on Tuesday.
He said they wanted to add a statement from trade union movement Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) to their application.
Judge Antonie Gildenhuys ruled that there was no need to make an order on their application.
The court is now expected to hear argument by Mpofu's lawyer on why they believe his third suspension from office was illegal.
Meeting irregular
Mpofu's lawyers want the court to declare the meeting where his suspension was decided as irregular, because Mpofu and two other board members were asked not to attend.
This would make the meeting null and void.
"He is a member of the board and is entitled to be part of the deliberations," said lawyer Sandile July.
Mpofu was first suspended on May 7, a day after he suspended head of news Snuki Zikalala, who was accused of leaking a memorandum on Mpofu's alleged bad management of the SABC.
The Johannesburg High Court overturned Mpofu's suspension but a few days later he was suspended again. He then won another court bid challenging his suspension, but the board retaliated with a third suspension.
According to court papers, the board held that Mpofu did not have the authority to suspend Zikalala.
On Monday, it emerged that Zikalala had been reinstated as SABC head of news.
The SABC reported that the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration had been asked to conduct an independent fact-finding mission into whether there were grounds to suspend Zikalala, who was on special leave and would return to work within two weeks.
Senior SABC managers had called on President Thabo Mbeki to remove the board while a judge had questioned the chairwoman's independence.
- SAPA