Ruling on SME Bank saga next week

The ruling over whether the court case of dismissed SME Bank executives and directors fired by the central bank last month is urgent, will be handed down in the High Court next week.
The applicants claim the Bank of Namibia (BoN) acted unlawfully when it dismissed them, and want the courts to deal with the matter with urgency.
High Court Judge Shafimana Ueitele, who presided over the urgent legal challenge, today said he will give an order in respect of the urgency of the matter on Tuesday.
At the start of the hearing on 7 April 2017, prominent South African defence lawyer, Advocate Vincent Maleka, who is representing the dismissed directors and executives, said the application was brought before court as an urgent matter because his clients have suffered irreparable reputational consequences, and their removal from their respective positions at the bank is grave in the sense that these people will no longer be able to occupy any other managerial position in Namibia.
The BoN removed the ex-directors and the executives and took charge of the SME Bank following the discovery of what appeared to be unsound investments of close to N$200 million allegedly made in South Africa.
According to Maleka, the dismissal and the removal of the directors and the executive was unfair and unlawful because it was effected without his clients being accorded any opportunity to be heard, as per provisions and requirements of Namibia’s labour laws, in respect of removal and dismissal.
NAMPA