Judgment reserved in Mkhwebane’s application

JOHANNESBURG - Judgment has been reserved in the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application to have her suspension set aside.

On Tuesday, Mkhwebane advanced several arguments in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town, on why her suspension was unconstitutional.

Authority

These included that President Cyril Ramaphosa had no authority to suspend her because she had instituted an investigation into the Phala Phala farm scandal.

Mkhwebane also argued that according to the Constitution, the President could only suspend her once the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating her fitness to hold office had resumed its proceedings.

Testify

Meanwhile, the Head of the Public Protector’s Free State Office, Sphelo Hamilton Samuel, was expected to testify in the Parliamentary inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office when the hearings resumed yesterday.

The inquiry adjourned last week after former Senior Investigator in the Public Protector’s Office Tebogo Kekana’s testimony.

The hearing adjourned on Tuesday last week, to allow Mkhwebane and her legal team to prepare for the court bid to challenge her suspension by President Ramaphosa.

Samuel reportedly had to be reinstated last month with back pay of R1.5 million after he successfully challenged his dismissal at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

This after he reportedly called on Mkhwebane to resign in 2020 after accusing her of being incapacitated.

Samuel will be the fourth witness to testify in the parliamentary inquiry so far.