Mkhwebane on # CR17 case, again
J O H A N N E S B U R G - P u b l i c Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has approached the Constitutional Court to request that it rescind its statement that she had ‘ changed’ the Executive Code of Ethics as part of her investigation into the ‘ CR17’ campaign funding investigation. The court ruled earlier this month that Mkhwebane changed t he wording of t he code t o conclude that President Cyril Ramaphosa had inadvertently or deliberately misled the Legislature.
Appeal
It made the finding as it dismissed Mkhwebane’s appeal against the j u d g ment o f t h e Pr e t o r i a High Court, which in March last year set aside a report in which she found Ramaphosa misl e d Par l i a ment about funding for his campaign to be elected ANC president in 2017.
The Constitutional Court also held that both the constitution and t he Public Protector Act do not empower Mkhwebane to investigate the private affairs of political parties.
Confirmed
In a statement yesterday, Mkhwebane’s office confirmed that it had approached the apex court on Friday, to apply for a ‘ rescission, varying and/ or reconsideration’ of its ruling.
“The application centres on the patently erroneous f i nding t hat the public protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, ‘ changed’ the Executive Code of Ethics, replacing the word ‘ wilfully’ with ‘ deliberately or inadvertently’. This finding was pivotal to the decision to dismiss the appeal.
“It will be argued respectfully in court that, in fact, the court relied on t he ol d version of t he code, whi c h was p u b l i s h e d i n 2 0 0 0 , while Adv Mkhwebane invoked, verbatim, t he provisions of t he amended version of 2007, which the Constitutional Court has itself e ndorsed a s r e c e nt l y a s March 2 0 1 6 i n t h e EFF v S p e a k e r o f the National Assembly case,” her office said. Her office said there were implications of the case being dismissed on her ‘ personal and professional capacities’.