Mkhwebane gets reprieve… for now
PUBLIC protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been given a reprieve – for now – after Parliament said it would decide in the next few months on whether to hold an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
This followed intense discussions by MPs in the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services regarding her future.
The DA, EFF and ACDP yesterday tried to push for the immediate establishment of an inquiry, with the intention to remove her from office.
But ANC MPs urged them to wait until the next few months.
Committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga said it would be best to give Mkhwebane an opportunity to respond to the DA’s allegations.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said there were a number of reasons why Mkhwebane must be removed, including the scathing judgments against her.
MPs across the parties said they were not dealing with the guilt or otherwise of Mkhwebane, but trying to establish if an inquiry into her fitness to hold office was necessary.
Steenhuisen said there was a serious need for such an inquiry, considering the scathing court judgments.
Opposition parties warned the ANC that if they failed to hold the inquiry, it would be a serious indictment on Parliament.
They said the decision would come back to haunt them like the Nkandla judgment, when the Constitutional Court made serious findings against the House for not acting on the matter.
Steve Swart of the ACDP said the inquiry was imperative.
“If we do not agree on the inquiry, we will be failing in our responsibility. We have breached our responsibility in the past,” said Swart in reference the Nkandla matter.
Steenhuisen said Mkhwebane was not appealing the entire judgment on the Absa report, but the personal cost order against her.
“There is no harm, irreparable harm in initiating this inquiry. We will be protecting ourselves from the charge that we are being derelict in our duty,” said Steenhuisen.
“What undermines the fight against corruption is when you have sloppy reports that are easily overturned,” he said.
Thilivhali Mulaudzi of the EFF said they wanted the inquiry to take place as soon as possible.
He said the scathing judgments against Mkhwebane were sufficient to draw the attention of the committee to act against her. But Motshekga said they could not take a decision until they had given Mkhwebane an opportunity to respond to Steenhuisen’s allegations.
“All I can do to be fair to you (Steenhuisen) and her, is to submit your presentation to her for her to comment and come back to the committee.
“We will evaluate what she is saying and decide whether to hold an inquiry. We will wait until we have heard her,” he said.
Earlier, Mkhwebane told journalists after her meeting with the committee on the appointment of her special adviser Sibusiso Nyembe was adjourned, that the committee had every right to decide what to do with regard to the matter.
“We’ve got a democracy and it is a vibrant democracy. The deliberations will take place with members of the committee and I have nothing further to say. I will leave it to them.”
Mkhwebane said she had been the victim of relentless verbal attacks since her controversial report on Absa. “I am just doing my work, without fear or favour,” she added.