Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has successfully interdicted the moving and sale of office equipment from the police headquarters in Pretoria. He approached the Siyabuswa Regional Court in Mpumalanga on an urgent basis to halt the sale of the assets valued at R1.2 million. The sale was set for Friday.
The office of the sheriff attached assets at Wachthuis to raise funds after three men from Mpumalanga instituted a lawsuit against the police. The men were unlawfully arrested and assaulted in 2012.
The Minister noted how the removal and sale of the assets would affect the rendering of public services. The court found the minister’s reasons compelling.
The assets which include computers and furniture are being used by more than 100 officials.
The lawyer for the trio who instituted the lawsuit, Msebenzi Masombuka believes the judgment is flawed.
“There is no way that any person can utilise assets which have been attached without consequences. In this case, we have the Minister of police, he’s busy utilising the assets which have been attached and in terms of the rules of the court they are not supposed to do that. That conduct is contemptuous. They are in contempt of court. So we raised that argument, but unfortunately, it did not succeed,” says Masombuka.
Cele fighting to stop sheriff of the court from selling office equipment after being sued:
