Question NW1456 to the MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE
24 May 2016 - NW1456
Mulder, Dr PW to ask the MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE
(1) Why he and his department are making use of a certain private firm of attorneys (name furnished) in a certain court case (details furnished) instead of the services of the State Attorney; (2) What have the legal costs of the (a) attorneys and (b) advocates in the specified court case amounted to for him and his department to date? (NW1607E)
Reply:
1. The Department appointed Cheadle; Thompson & Haysom attorneys since they previously dealt with similar language related cases initiated by the said Lourens and were therefore familiar and more knowledgeable regarding the issues at hand. Furthermore, the said attorneys had assisted the Department in drafting the Use of Official Languages Act in 2012 and their appointment was thus necessary to ensure continuity and effectiveness in addressing the language related issues.
2. The legal costs of the (a) attorneys amount to R726 186.70 and (b) R694 925.69 for advocates to date.