High Court to decide on disputed trustee appointments

THE Gauteng High Court in Pretoria is expected to hear the case against Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure over the appointment of five trustees to fill vacancies on the board of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) tomorrow (Friday).

- MANYANE MANYANE

This was after non-governmental organisations Black Forum South Africa (BFSA) and Izwi Labantu Forum (ILF) filed an urgent application for an interdict suspending the appointment of the five new trustees.

The organisations also challenge the appointment process of the new trustees in Part B of the application, which is expected to be heard at a later date, where they are seeking to review and set aside the appointment.

The organisations said the appointment of the members was unlawful, citing a lack of transparency, which was in contravention of the IDT Trust Deed and without a public participation process.

The organisations argued that this violated their rights to nominate candidates for the appointment of IDT trustees.

However, Minister Dean Macpherson argued the organisations did not complain that the five are not suitably qualified, and any suggestion that they are not suitable and unlawfully appointed has no merit. The hearing was set for Tuesday (April 22) but it was postponed to Friday after two judges requested that the matter should be rescheduled.