- Fired Department of Agriculture CFO Jacob Basil Hlatshwayo's pension benefits have been frozen.
- Hlatshwayo was implicated in the irregular and unlawful awarding of an R11.5m contract for personal protective equipment.
- The department fired him in October 2020 in an unrelated matter.
Jacob Basil Hlatshwayo, a former Department of Agriculture chief financial officer, will have to wait a while longer before getting his hands on his pension payout after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) successfully instituted civil proceedings in the Special Tribunal to reinstate an order freezing his pension benefits.
The SIU approached the Special Tribunal to reinstate an interdict barring the Government Employees Pension Fund from giving Hlatshwayo his payout after the initial order lapsed in December.
At the time, Special Tribunal Judge Lebogang Modiba granted the interdict on condition the SIU takes action against Hlatshwayo by 1 March.
This didn't happen, and the order lapsed.
Hlatshwayo was implicated in the irregular and unlawful awarding of an R11.5 million contract for personal protective equipment (PPE).
The award, SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said, was in breach of the National Treasury's instructions to regulate emergency procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Modiba on Wednesday made an order that Hlatshwayo, who is fighting the order, file an answering affidavit in the matter by 30 April.
The tribunal is expected to hold a hearing on 24 May.
The department fired Hlatshwayo in October 2020 in an unrelated matter.
He was dismissed for his role in the irregular appointment of a company to provide transportation, processing and warehousing of abalone and shark fins.
He was also found guilty for his role in procurement irregularities relating to the appointment of a company to provide security facilities at two harbours.
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