Mbete backs Reserve Bank
NATIONAL Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has filed an affidavit supporting the South African Reserve Bank’s (Sarb) court application on Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s “CIEX Report” and findings, Parliament said.
In her affidavit filed on Friday, Mbete also asked the Gauteng High Court to allow her and justice and correctional services portfolio committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga to act as applicants in the case, Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.
In her report released on June 19, Mkhwebane found that Absa Bank should pay R1.15 billion to the fiscus. Oddly, she also recommended that the mandate of the Sarb be changed from targeting inflation to promoting economic growth. Accountability Now head Paul Hoffman, who lodged the original complaint, did not ask for such a finding at all and has himself stated he does not believe this finding to be correct. Yesterday, Mothapo said key elements of Mbete’s affidavit were that:
Mkhwebane’s “order is unconstitutional,
it is not a remedy,
it encroaches on Parliament's exclusive domain,
it is undemocratic,
it negates section 74 of the constitution, which sets out the special requirements for amending the constitution, and
her amendment perverts the separation of powers”.
“In addition to the remedial action set out in the public protector's order and the precise wording posited as a replacement for the current section 224 of the constitution, the public protector added that the Reserve Bank and the chairperson of the portfolio committee must submit an action plan within 60 days on their implementation of her order.”
The effect of Mkhwebane’s amendment would be to remove the primary object of the Sarb to protect the value of the currency.
The order was unconstitutional because it was beyond the scope of the public protector’s mandate.
“The order is also undemocratic and contrary to the values of democratic government, accountability, responsiveness, and openness, and negates the special requirements to amend the constitution. The purpose of these is to ensure that members of Parliament when considering an amendment to the constitution do so with the benefit of wide public input.”