The Public protector's finding on the Sars intelligence unit is irrational and likely to be set aside. That's the view of constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos. Courtesy #DStv403
JOHANNESBURG - The Public protector's finding on the Sars intelligence unit is irrational and likely to be set aside, that's the view of constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos.
Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report says Pravin Gordhan breached section 209 of the Constitution by establishing the unit when he was Sars commissioner.
But De Vos is not convinced.
He says it can be argued that Gordhan approved the establishment of a covert information-gathering unit and not an intelligence service.
"The Public Protector is not a court of law, so we are relying on the Constitutional Court judgment, most famously Nkanlda judgment where the court made statements that could be interpreted in favour of the Public Protector and a statement that could be interpreted in favour of Gordhan and Ramaphosa, so we haven't yet sorted that out."
"We don't really have specific procedural law that applies to the PP", de Vos added.