Holomisa sticks to his guns despite gagging order

17 July 2018 8:32 AM

Despite the High Court in Pretoria granting a gag order against United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa over his Public Investment Corporation (PIC) corruption claims against BEE investment firm Labashe Investment Group, he says he is standing his ground.

READ: Court gags Holomisa over PIC corruption claims

MD of New Business and Stakeholder Management at Harith Fund Managers Pule Molebeledi says it is actually not even a gagging order and they believe that it is a court interdict to stop Holomisa from defaming their entities.

So we are actually quite thrilled that Judge Thlapi sat down and considered all the facts in an open court which was ventilated between 10 and 5 pm and argued by both senior counsel and clearly after adjudicating and looking at all the facts presented, she came to this conclusion.
— Pule Molebeledi, MD of New Business and Stakeholder Management at Harith Fund Managers

He adds that their argument has always been that there is nothing opaque about their business and there was nothing mysterious about what they do.

Harith is an asset management company that has received investment funds from the private sector and it is performing very well.
— Pule Molebeledi, MD of New Business and Stakeholder Management at Harith Fund Managers

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa says he fully agrees that this is a gagging order and that is Harith's interpretation.

The Harith representatives have got their own interpretation. However, I am not going to get into substantive arguments because a notice of application for leave to appeal has been issued already to the companies concerned.
— Bantu Holomisa, UDM leader

As a parting shot, people must know that Harith was established with public funds and they continue to receive the majority of its investment from government pensions so therefore it is the responsibility of anybody to ask pertinent questions.
— Bantu Holomisa, UDM leader

Especially that the media has been running about the mismanagement of PIC funds, so we have a right, therefore, to ask the President to establish an inquiry.
— Bantu Holomisa, UDM leader

Listen below to the full interview:

Written by: Matshepo Sehloho