{"id":49412,"date":"2023-06-06T20:59:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T20:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office"},"modified":"2023-06-06T22:13:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T22:13:02","slug":"judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","title":{"rendered":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier’s office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office are awaiting their fate as judgment has been reserved in a legal matter pertaining to their suspension.<\/p>\n

Seeking to reverse their suspension, chief financial officer Ziphathe Cibane and supply chain manager Nonhlanhla Hlongwa approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg to challenge a 2020 decision to suspend them after they were implicated in fraud relating to a R24 million catering tender.<\/p>\n

Cibane, Hlongwa and seven others were accused of circumventing procurement processes while in the employ of former premier Sihle Zikalala’s office.<\/p>\n

Cibane and Hlongwa appealed a 10 March judgment that dismissed their application with costs.<\/p>\n

Their appeal was set down for hearing on 2 June before Judge Pieter Bezuidenhout, who reserved judgment.<\/p>\n

The accused were arrested in July 2020 and the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit confiscated properties estimated to be worth R23 million.<\/p>\n

Court papers say that Cibane and Hlongwa’s suspensions started on 17 January 2020 and were extended to March 2023.<\/p>\n

The two are seeking the review of their suspension and that a report of the investigation that was carried out by Integrity Forensic Solutions be set aside; and that the premier’s and director-general’s offices be ordered to pay the legal costs.<\/p>\n

The application was opposed by the premier, director-general, provincial treasury and Integrity Forensic Solutions.<\/p>\n

Cibane and Hlongwa contended in their court presentation, through their lawyer, Advocate John Pammenter SC, that their suspension was not procedurally fair as they had been kept in the dark until 16 January 2020, while the letters of suspension were given to them on 20 January 2020.<\/p>\n

They claimed in their initial arguments that they were also kept in the dark about the allegations and argued that the audi alteram partem rule, which allows for the other side to make representations, was not applied.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office are awaiting their fate as judgment has been reserved in a legal matter pertaining to their suspension. Seeking to reverse their suspension, chief financial officer Ziphathe Cibane and supply chain manager Nonhlanhla Hlongwa approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg to challenge a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[274,315,2372,285,286,1407,275],"class_list":["post-49412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-durban","tag-kwazulu-natal","tag-sihle-zikalala","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nJudgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier’s office\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"crime and courts\",\"durban\",\"kwazulu-natal\",\"sihle zikalala\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\",\"name\":\"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":665,\"caption\":\"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier’s office\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office - South Africa","description":"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office","og_description":"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":665,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier’s office","datePublished":"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office"},"wordCount":324,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","crime and courts","durban","kwazulu-natal","sihle zikalala","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office","name":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-06T20:59:08+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-06T22:13:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Two high-ranking, fraud-accused officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office are awaiting their fate as judgment has ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1686073332.33659.jpg","width":1024,"height":665,"caption":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier's office"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/judgment-reserved-in-appeal-against-suspension-of-fraud-accused-officials-in-kzn-premiers-office#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Judgment reserved in appeal against suspension of fraud-accused officials in KZN premier’s office"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}