The Citizen (Gauteng)

What Busi stands to lose

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane could face jail time, be disbarred and axed if she is found guilty of lying under oath about secret meetings she had with former president Jacob Zuma, discussing the Bankorp-CIEX investigat­ion and report.

- Bernadette Wicks bernadette­w@citizen.co.za

She is confident she will be cleared of wrongdoing

Lies in affidavits about how often she met ex-president Zuma, state alleges.

There is a lot on the line for perjury-accused Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who could face jail time, be disbarred and axed – if the charges against her stick.

Criminal expert Dr Llewelyn Curlewis said yesterday there was a very real possibilit­y that, if convicted, Mkhwebane could land up behind bars. “One would likely be looking at a shorter term for a first-time offender, though.”

He also said she could be looking at a periodic imprisonme­nt, a suspended sentence or a fine, instead. Any which way, though, a criminal conviction would almost certainly see Mkhwebane disbarred.

“If she had a criminal record, she would probably no longer be considered a fit and proper person to practise as an attorney,” constituti­onal law expert Pierre de Vos said.

Lawson Naidoo of the Council for the Advancemen­t of the South African Constituti­on pointed out she would also almost certainly lose her job under these circumstan­ces.

“If she were to be convicted of these criminal charges, it would clearly indicate that she was not a fit and proper person to hold office, either,” he said.

The criminal case against Mkhwebane is still at a relatively early stage. She made her first appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday, when the case was postponed to March.

Mkhwebane’s lawyer, advocate Dali Mpofu, told the court that in the interim, they would make representa­tions to the national director of public prosecutio­ns for the withdrawal of the charges. “Which we regard as frivolous and contrived,” he added. He said if their representa­tions were rejected, they would likely approach the high court.

The charges against Mkhwebane relate to allegation­s that she lied under oath about secret meetings she had with former president Jacob Zuma, after she was taken to court over her Bankorp-CIEX report. The report was released in 2017 and in it, the public protector found the SA Reserve Bank had “illegally gifted” Bankorp, one of the country’s largest banks at the time, a R1.125 billion bailout in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Among her binding recommenda­tions was that Absa, which had since acquired Bankorp, pay back the money. The Reserve Bank and Absa took the report on review and in 2018, it was in the main set aside by the High Court in Pretoria.

At the heart of the case are two affidavits Mkhwebane submitted to the courts while fighting the case, in which the state claims she lied about how often she had met the former president to discuss the Bankorp investigat­ion and what their meetings entailed.

Paul Hoffman, who heads lobby group Accountabi­lity Now, said yesterday he believed this was “the beginning of the end” for Mkhwebane, who is also facing an investigat­ion by the Legal Practice Council into her fitness for office and a parliament­ary impeachmen­t inquiry against her.

But her spokesman, Oupa Segwale, said she was “confident she will be cleared of any wrongdoing”. –

 ?? Picture: Neil McCartney ??
Picture: Neil McCartney
 ?? Picture:
Neil McCartney ?? IN THE DOCK. Advocate Dali Mpofu speaks to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane as she appears in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of perjury yesterday .
Picture: Neil McCartney IN THE DOCK. Advocate Dali Mpofu speaks to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane as she appears in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of perjury yesterday .

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