Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will find out if she can subpoena Former President Jacob Zuma for his tax records on Monday 23 March.
Photo: African News Agency (ANA)

Mkhwebane vs Parliament: Will the Public Protector inquiry be halted?

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has called on Parliament to stop the inquiry into her fitness to hold office with immediate effect

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will find out if she can subpoena Former President Jacob Zuma for his tax records on Monday 23 March.
Photo: African News Agency (ANA)

It’s all in up to Parliament to decide whether or not to put the fitness inquiry into Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office, on hold, particularly in the wake of a ruling by the High Court in the Western Cape.

In a victory for Mkhwebane, the court ruled that she should be allowed legal representation during the impeachment probe. Judge Elizabeth Baartman also found that it was undesirable to appoint a judge to be on the independent panel that assesses the motion against the head of a Chapter Nine Institution (in this case, the Public Protector’s office).

This is reference to the three-member panel that was appointed by National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise, to determine if there was a prima facie case against Mkhwebane. Modise  appointed Justice Bess Nkabinde as chairperson of the panel along with Advocates Dumisa Ntsebeza and Johan De Waal, which determined there was prima facie evidence of incompetence and misconduct on Mkhwebane’s part. This is what paved the way for the probe into her fitness for office.

EFF and Mkhwebane want inquiry placed on hold

Not long after the High Court in the Western Cape’s ruling, Busisiwe Mkhwebane said the two rulings in her favour, not only warranted a changing of the rules by Parliament but also meant that they needed to pump the brakes on her impeachment inquiry.

“The National Assembly should take the opportunity to rectify other weaknesses identified and criticised by the court, including those which may not necessarily have been declared unconstitutional at this stage. Any rushed process can only result in another wasteful, flawed and illegal outcome,” said Mkhwebane.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have also entered the fray and want the probe to be stopped. All this while it appears the Section 194 Committee probing her fitness, seems to have already gotten the ball rolling.

“The principle which we have articulated consistently is that those who have problems with findings, rulings and remedial action of the Public Protector must approach the courts for judicial review. Hounding the Public Protector and subjecting her to a long litigious process will deprive her office of the necessary attention it deserves to protect vulnerable South Africans, the majority of whom cannot afford to approach the courts for justice,” the EEF said.