Mkhwebane mum on perjury charges she is facing

PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s office is keeping mum on her upcoming perjury criminal charge scheduled for next month.

This comes after the Hawks this week issued Mkhwebane with a summons to appear before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.

The perjury charge against her originates from a criminal complaint that was lodged by Accountability Now’s Paul Hoffman after the Constitutional Court found her to have been dishonest in one of her judgments.

According to the Hawks, Mkhwebane will face three counts of perjury relating to her allegedly lying under oath over his meetings with former president Jacob Zuma during the investigation into the apartheid-era loan by the South African Reserve Bank to Bankorp/Absa.

After the judicial review application by SARB and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni against Mkhwebane’s report, the North Gauteng High Court set it aside and slapped her with a personal cost order of 15%.

In her appeal before the apex court, it confirmed the personal cost order and further accused her of having acted in bad faith and of having put forward falsehoods during the litigation emanating to the opposition of her report.

Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya had informed Mkhwebane that she had to provide a warning statement relating to the case, which was opened at the Hillbrow police station.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Sipho Ngwema confirmed on Tuesday that the NPA had decided to prosecute her.

“The Director of Public prosecutions in Pretoria did take the decision to prosecute after they carefully assessed the evidence presented to him by the Hawks,”Ngwema said.

Mkhwebane has been ordered to present herself before the court on January 21 where she is expected to be formally charged.

Her spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said Mkhwebane had taken a decision not to comment on any aspect of her impending criminal prosecution.

The moves by the Hawks and the NPA are set to increase Mkhwebane’s woes as she is currently facing a parliamentary inquiry tasked with probing her fitness to hold office.

Last month, retired Judge Bess Nkabinde was named chairperson of the three-team panel which would probe and hear evidence into Mkhwebane’s competence to hold office.