Public protector unfazed by grilling over dairy farm report

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has made it clear to MPs that she is not about to bow out any time soon as she plans to serve her full nonrenewable seven-year term.

Mkhwebane came under fire in Parliament on Tuesday as both ANC and opposition MPs criticised her handling of the Estina dairy farm report and asked why she had seen the need to meet the State Security Agency and former president Jacob Zuma at a time when she was finalising the Ciex report on the apartheid-era bailout of Bankorp, which later became part of Absa.

ANC MPs in the justice portfolio committee were clearly divided on the matter and backbenchers Loyiso Mpumlwana and former state security minister Bongani Bongo leapt to Mkhwebane’s defence.

But committee chairman Mathole Motshekga and other opposition MPs such as the DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach and the African Christian Democratic Party’s Steve Swart gave Mkhwebane a hard time on why her report on the farm did not deal with the alleged role of former Free State agriculture MEC Mosebenzi Zwane and premier Ace Magashule. The Estina dairy farm was set up as a local economic development project under Zwane’s watch but the leaked Gupta e-mails revealed in 2017 that about R30m from the project was used to fund a lavish Gupta family wedding in Sun City.

Zwane and Magashule are said to be close to the Guptas, and the son of the Free State premier, who is also the secretary-general of the ANC, is a business associate of the Gupta family.

Mkhwebane told MPs on Tuesday that Magashule and Zwane were not mentioned in the original complaint that triggered the Estina investigation. She also blamed constrained resources for their exclusion from her probe.

But MPs dismissed her explanations as “baseless and vague” and accused her of “protecting politicians”.

EFF MP Sam Matiase challenged Mkhwebane to follow Zuma’s example and resign because of her recent fumbles.

But the public protector would have none of that.

“Honourable Matiase indicated that I should do a good thing and resign like former president Zuma. I must indicate, I committed to serve South Africans in this particular aspect and the process to appoint the public protector was transparent and the National Assembly recommended [me] to the then president for appointment.

“I do not think he [Matiase] had anything to do with my appointment,” said Mkhwebane.

She said it was unfair for her to hold office and be questioned on the basis of a single adverse court ruling.