Judicial capture caught in action
PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s legal team have a case to suggest judicial capture.
Mkhwebane’s lawyers have written to the registrar of the Constitutional Court to inquire if there is any truth in a claim that the court would refuse her application to back-pedal on an earlier judgment against her.
A text message saying Mkhwebane would lose the rescission application was allegedly sent to the opposing counsel in the Western Cape.
The text message is said to confirm that the case to have her suspended, and the court’s response to it, was choreographed from somewhere, proving judicial capture.
The text message was allegedly sent by self-styled legal commentator Ismail Abramjee to Andrew Breitenbach, the lawyer for the speaker of parliament.
This was the cause for the last-minute postponement of an urgent application halting the impeachment proceedings.
Reports further indicated that Mkhwebane fancied the Western Cape High Court to rule on the possible suspension pending a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether it would rescind, or reverse, its earlier decision on the constitutionality of the impeachment rules which cleared the way for the process against her to go ahead.
Abramjee has told media that the message he sent to Breitenbach was based on media reports and his own scrutiny and had no inside information from the apex court and any insinuation that he was linked to judicial capture.
After the postponement, he tweeted that Mkhwebane’s attorneys wrote to the Constitutional Court stating that they required the various developments be brought to the attention of the chief justice and the justices of the Constitutional Court.
They also required that they respectfully respond as to whether the information contained in the SMS was true or not.
If true, it would have a material bearing on the scope of the Part A proceedings in the high court, according to media reports.
Speaking to The Star yesterday, Mkhwebane said: “Former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng had called for evidence on judicial capture. This is it.
“Then acting CJ Raymond Zondo said if anyone had evidence of judicial capture they needed to come forward. We are officially coming forward now.
“How do some journalists know of the outcome of cases before they are heard?
“We have long been saying this. We’re calling for a thorough investigation into this matter,” she said.