The Constitutional Court has held the Home Affairs Minister and the Director-General personally liable for failure to enact corrective legislation to parts of the Immigration Act. The apex court delivered judgment on Monday in an ex-paret application to revive a 2017 order of the court, which declared parts of the Immigration Act invalid and gave Parliament 24 months to remedy the constitutional defects.
To date, Parliament has failed to correct the defects and the period of suspension of invalidity expired on 29 June 2019.
The apex court says the conduct of the Home Affairs officials was deserving of a punitive cost order. As a result, it slapped the Home Affairs Minister with a 10% personal cost order while his Director-General was held 25% liable.
This after six years have passed without the enactment of corrective legislation concerning the Immigration Act to the extent that it did not adequately protect the rights of persons detained for purposes of deportation under the Act, causing confusion and uncertainty in the law.
Constitutional Court’s Justice Leona Theron says, “Personal cost orders against public officials who flout their constitutional obligations serve to vindicate the constitution and hold such officials to account, the minister is ultimately accountable for the fulfilment of his dept’s objectives and for the actions or failures of his officials…. assigned to them
Source: eNCA
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