Former deputy speaker of the Limpopo legislature Lehlogonolo Masoga has been cleared by Pretoria high court following allegations that he spent over R100 000 watching pornographic material while on an official trip to the US.
The ruling comes six years after now suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane issued a report which found Masoga guilty of improper conduct and maladministration and recommended that he pay back a portion of a cellphone bill incurred during the 2014 trip.
The investigation was prompted by a City Press article that alleged that he had accumulated a bill of R125 000 watching pornography.
This was the second report issued after an initial one had cleared Masoga, who is now CEO of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone.
But on Thursday, the Pretoria high court declared the second report dated June 11 2018 and titled Allegations of Misuse of Telephone Privilege by the Deputy Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature unconstitutional, unlawful, and invalid and set it aside.
Speaking to Sunday World, the former ANC Youth League chairperson in Limpopo said he was relieved that he was finally vindicated.
“I am relieved that after six years of enduring the indignity of false accusations emanating from wicked persons. Justice has been done. Unlike a tin of fish, justice has neither an expiry date nor price,” he said.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
