CC Case No: ________
CAC Case No: 140/CAC/MAR16
In the matter between:
S.O.S SUPPORT PUBLIC BROADCASTING COALITION First Applicant
THE TRUSTEES FOR THE TIME BEING OF
THE MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT BENEFIT TRUST Second Applicant
CAXTON AND CTP PUBLISHERS AND PRINTERS LIMITED Third Applicant
and
SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
(SOC) LIMITED First Respondent
MULTICHOICE (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED Second Respondent
THE COMPETITION COMMISSION Third Respondent
CONFIRMATORY AFFIDAVIT: MICHELLE RAWLINSON
I, the undersigned,
MICHELLE RAWLINSON
state under oath as follows:
1 I am the applicants’ attorney of record in this matter.
2 The facts contained in this affidavit are within my personal knowledge, unless the context indicates otherwise, and are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge and belief.
3 I have read the founding affidavit of Mr William Bird. I confirm the contents of that affidavit insofar as they relate to me. Specifically, I confirm two matters:
3.1 My exchanges with the Registrar of the Competition Appeal Court (“CAC”) on Tuesday, 16 May 2017; and
3.2 That I prepared the transcript of relevant portions of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (“SCOPA”) hearing which took place on Wednesday, 17 May 2017.
Exchanges with the Registrar of the Competition Appeal Court
4 I confirm that on Tuesday, 16 May 2017 I telephoned the Registrar of the CAC to confirm receipt of the applicants’ notice of application for leave to appeal.
4.1 During this conversation, the Registrar informed me that the CAC no longer considers applications for leave to appeal and claimed that the CAC had written a judgment to this effect. The Registrar indicated that she would send me an email confirming this.
4.2 I asked the Registrar to provide me with the details of the judgment to which the Registrar responded that she did not have the details to hand but would locate a copy and email it to me.
5 Later that day, the Registrar telephoned me to advise that she had been mistaken, as there is no CAC judgment to support her earlier statements, but that she had sent an email confirming that the CAC would not entertain the application for leave to appeal. At the same time the Registrar sent me an email in which the Registrar repeated that “you have to petition the Constitutional Court directly for leave to appeal” and confirmed her view that
“[t]he CAC does not have jurisdiction to grant leave to bring an application before the Con[stitutional] Court.” A copy of this email is attached to the founding affidavit, marked “WB 11”.
6 After reading this email, I again telephoned the Registrar to clarify the CAC’s position. During this conversation, the Registrar informed me that she had discussed the applicants’ notice with the Judge President of the CAC, who had informed her that the CAC would no longer consider applications of this nature.
The Registrar repeated that the applicants had no choice but to approach this Court for leave to appeal.
Transcript of the SCOPA hearings on 17 May 2017
7 I have watched recordings of relevant portions of the briefing by the SABC to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (“SCOPA”) which took place on Wednesday, 17 May 2017, in respect of outstanding issues related to irregular expenditure by the SABC.
8 I have prepared a transcript of portions of the submissions in which the Minister of Communications, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, and a member of SCOPA, Mr Vincent Smith, make submissions relating to the SABC’s inability to produce certain documentation. This transcript is attached to the founding affidavit marked
“WB 9”.
9 I confirm that the quotes reproduced in the affidavit deposed to by William Bird were transcribed by me and are an accurate reflection of the submissions made by Ms Dlodlo and Mr Smith in relation to the non-availability of documentation.
10 The recording from which I prepared the transcription may be accessed at http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/baec0d00412bd6968bc8ef1f01a2d31e/Communi cations-Minister-withdraws-request-for-financial-guarantee-for-SABC-
20171705.
11 I confirm that I was not able to obtain official transcripts of this testimony.
These transcripts are not currently available on the Hansard website and my office’s attempts to obtain a copy from Parliament were unsuccessful.
_________________________
MICHELLE RAWLINSON
I hereby certify that the deponent knows and understands the contents of this affidavit and that it is to the best of her knowledge both true and correct. This affidavit was signed and sworn to before me at JOHANNESBURG on this the _________ day of ____________ 2017, and that the Regulations contained in Government Notice R.1258 of 21 July 1972, as amended, have been complied with.
_________________________
COMMISSIONER OF OATHS
