Civil society takes Mboweni to court
- Lee-Anne Bruce
Today, the Gauteng High Court will hear an application to interdict the appointments process for the Financial Services Conduct Authority
[UPDATE: The Court subsequently dismissed the application. The judgment is available here.]
After 18 months of failing to get a response from the Minister of Finance, Open Secrets and the Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC), represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), have applied to the Gauteng High Court on an urgent basis to call for a transparent process to select the new Commissioner & Deputy Commissioners of the FSCA.
We have asked the court to interdict the shortlisting, interviewing & selection of candidates – as directed by Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni- until public participation has been provided for to allow members of the public & the media to have full access to these processes. We believe this is essential to protect the Constitutional imperatives of openness, transparency and accountability and the right of the public to participate in these processes.
The FSCA is the first regulator of its kind in SA, with a specific mandate to scrutinise the market conduct of actors in the financial sector, & ensure that customers are treated fairly. Given its importance, it is crucial that the public be sufficiently represented and involved in the process to appoint its commissioners.
Find all the legal documents related to the case here.