The Constitutional Court on Wednesday failed to hear a case in which 130 employees of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) are challenging the Commission which intents to implement a new organizational structure formulated by the management task team.
Addressing the applicants who filled the courtroom wearing their commission’s T-shirts, Judge Molefi Makara who sat alongside Acting Judge Keketso Moahloli explained that Judge Sakoane Sakoane who is to hear the case with them is not available today and therefore the hearing of the case cannot proceed.
Judge Makara explained that the law requires that three Judges should sit as a Constitutional Court and that the absence of another Judge means there cannot be any progress made to the case.
He also indicated that another handicap is that just before the Judges entered the courtroom, they were furnished with the IEC’s heads of arguments which he commented they should read them before hearing the case.
Judge Makara therefore explained that the case is postponed to May 09, 2019 and ordered lawyers on both sides to file relevant affidavits before court.
In the meantime, the court also explained that the interim court order interdicting the IEC from implementing the structure in question pending finalisation of the application before court is thus extended to May 09, 2019.
The employees drawn from different districts of the country which comprise Constituency Electoral Assistants, Office Assistants, Drivers, Store Keepers, Data Captures and Receptionist who are aggrieved by the new structure to be implemented are asking the court as applicants to ask the six respondents to show cause if any why they (respondents) cannot be interdicted, prohibited and restrained from proceeding with the implementation of the new organizational structure formulated by the commission’s management task team or even appointing any person to the created positions envisaged in the new structure pending finalisation of this case.
Advocate Christopher Lephuthing represents the applicants while Advocates Kabelo Letuka and Mafefooane Moshoeshoe represent the respondents.
