Attorney Pavershree Padayachee had initially asked the court to postpone the matter to allow the commission to file a replying affidavit to Zuma’s response to the claim against him. However‚ Magistrate Irfaan Khalil raised concerns over the commission’s almost three-month delay in filing the court document.

He could not understand why the commission had acted hastily to haul Zuma to the Equality Court in September but was asking for the matter to be indefinitely postponed. Furthermore‚ Khalil questioned why the commission would need more time to draw up its replying affidavit when there was "very little" to dispute in Zuma’s responding papers.

On Tuesday, Padayachee told the court that the commission had been unable to file its replying affidavit as the commission’s chairperson Bongani Majola had been out of the country. After consulting with the commission’s national office‚ Padayachee said the document would be filed by February 17.

Khalil postponed the directions hearing — an opportunity for the magistrate to discuss the progress of the case with both parties — to May 22 and reserved judgment on costs for Tuesday’s proceedings.

He said while both parties had consented to paying their own costs‚ the court could use its judicial discretion to make an order. Khalil explained that he would take into account that Tuesday’s delay was a result of the commission’s failure to file its replying affidavit.

Source: Business Live