In respect of the president's conduct, the court found that his application was based on self-created urgency and that his overall conduct was unreasonable and leads to no other conclusion other than holding the president personally liable for the costs of the litigation on an attorney-client-scale.
It also found that the president’s conduct during the litigation amounted to an abuse of judicial process, which requires more than an ordinary punitive costs order. Importantly, the court found that the tax payer cannot be burdened with paying the costs of the unreasonable and unnecessary litigation.The costs of the litigation are to be calculated from 14 October 2016.
