Court orders AG, attorney to reach a settlement
Lebogang Mosikare | Thursday May 19, 2016 11:25
Mokgokong is claiming terminal benefits after she was interdicted from work following a corruption charge in 2010. Mokgokong, through her attorney Ishmael Moatshe was awarded P261,000 last year in November after the state failed to appear in court and did not file any opposing papers to the amount that Mokgokong sought from her employer.
Attorney Neo Sharp from the AG applied for the order that was granted by Justice Phadi Solomon to be rescinded.
Sharp said the state is not opposed to the respondent being granted her money, but the state is only opposed to the amount that Mokgokong is claiming, which she said was too much.
“The respondent is claiming an amount that is close to three times what she is entitled to. We pray with the court to rescind the order it granted last year.
We did not file notice of opposition because we were of the view that since we were in constant communication with the respondent’s attorneys about this matter, we could reach a settlement,” Sharp said.
Sharp stated that their omission to file opposing papers was not an error adding that they view the actions of Mokgokong’s attorneys to apply for an order in their absence as an ambush.
On the other hand, Moatshe said the reason why the AG did not file opposing papers was simply because they were not opposed to the amount that Mokgokong was claiming.
Moatshe said procedure dictates that if the AG was opposing the settlement amount his client is claiming, they would have filed opposing papers so that the matter could be swiftly addressed before the court.
“The order that was granted by this court was properly granted. We are, however, amenable to a neutral assessor or accountant to calculate the amount due to our client,” said Moatshe.
Justice Solomon ruled in favour of the AG. She adjourned the matter and told Sharp and Moatshe to reach a resolution on the matter.
In addition, Solomon ordered the AG to pay the costs of the application. Mokgokong was an employee of the government of Botswana who was seconded to the AG as an attorney.
Mokgokong and five other people were charged with a single count of corrupting a Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) officer, but they were later acquitted.
On March 28, 2014, Solomon ruled that she should open a separate bank account into which all her salary and other benefits with effect from May 1, 2010 would be deposited.