PRAISE FOR MADONSELA’S ‘SUCCESSOR’
THE ANC yesterday backtracked in their support for Judge Siraj Desai as public protector, recommending advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane instead.
Mkhwebane, who was relatively unknown when she was interviewed for the post, was backed by all parties except the DA. She will now be recommended for the post to the National Assembly where she will require 60% of the vote (240 votes) in order to be appointed.
Mkhwebane, the youngest of the five short-listed candidates, emerged as a frontrunner, garnering glowing recommendations from several ANC MPs as well as from the IFP, NDP and the EFF.
Currently an analyst at the State Security Agency (SSA), she has also worked for the Department of Home Affairs.
Her experience in the public protector’s office as an investigator also stood her in good stead, with ANC MP Bongani Bongo arguing that she would be familiar with the office and the work and would be able to “hit the ground running”.
The DA, however, took issue with her state security links, with MP Werner Horn saying the party was “ambivalent” towards her. Horn said he had not been satisfied with the way she had responded to his question about why she had left home affairs to join the SSA. Horn said this was a concern in the “current climate” in which South Africans worried about “big brother tendencies”.
The EFF’s Julius Malema said he had been initially impressed with her interview but then received a tip-off that she was close to President Jacob Zuma.
However, Malema said he still backed her because she would be a public protector beyond Zuma’s term and because the office was set up so as to minimise outside influence.
“If she tries any shenanigans the institution will expose her for who she is,” Malema said.
He said many things had been said about Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng ahead of his appointment but he had subsequently proven critics wrong.
The ACDP’s Steve Swart said he too had concerns regarding Mkhwebane’s move to become an SSA analyst but added that she had the “broadest degree of consensus across political lines”.
Mkhwebane impressed MPs and the public in her interview in which she answered all questions put to her, calmly and efficiently. In her summary of all candidates, committee chair Makhosi Khoza said she had been impressed by the manner in which Mkhwebane had responded to questions.
The IFP’s Christian Msimang, who nominated Mkhwebane, said he was patting himself on the back because she had proven to be a woman of “guts” who had given an impressive interview.
The NFP’s Sibusiso Mncwabe said Mkhwebane was a “brave young black female”. And while the ANC continued to support Desai as an “excellent candidate”, as a judge with 21 years on the bench, he would soon be eligible for retirement and the “accrual of [his] benefits” needed to be considered.
When it came to voting, ANC MP Madipoane Mothapo, who had earlier argued that his interview outburst in which he lost his temper be forgiven, said “let him keep his benefits”.
The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach, however, said Desai had a poor interview in which he had come across as rude and arrogant and unable to “hold his tongue and control his temper”.
Malema, who said he was attending the meeting just to ensure that Desai was not nominated, saying he had “disrespected MPs to the point where he had to apologise”.
Judge Sharise Weiner, one of the star performers of the interview process, also received glowing compliments, however, concerns were raised about removing a female judge from a bench already struggling with gender dynamics.
David Lewis, head of Corruption Watch, who has tracked the appointment process, said he was happy with Mkhwebane’s recommendation.
“She had an excellent interview and came across as direct and forthright and didn’t dodge any questions,” Lewis said.
Mkhwebane obtained a BProc and LLB from the University of the North and a diploma in Corporate Law and a higher diploma in Tax Law from the University of Johannesburg, among her other qualifications.