Mkhwebane asks chairperson and MP to recuse themselves
SUSPENDED Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has turned the tables on Parliament’s Committee for Section 194 Inquiry into her fitness to hold office, saying chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi (ANC) should recuse himself for failing to subpoena President Cyril Ramaphosa, and being biased.
In an amalgamated recusal application lodged against Dyantyi and committee member Kevin Mileham (DA), Mkhwebane’s legal representative, advocate Dali Mpofu, said the issues raised were about procedural fairness.
Mpofu said he had warned the committee several times that Mkhwebane’s legal team was unhappy with the way the inquiry was being conducted and managed and that the application for recusal was a last resort and not a decision taken lightly.
He said Mkhwebane had indicated to him that the point of no return had been reached very early in the proceedings, but that he had talked her out of taking action until now when he said “that point had not just been reached but exceeded”.
He said he had 12 grounds for Dyantyi’s recusal which he referred to as the “Dirty Dozen”, creating a lighthearted moment when he explained to Dyantyi that it was the title of a film from the 1960s and Dyantyi said he was glad he had never watched it.
Mpofu said that Mileham should recuse himself from the committee based on the fact that he was married to DA MP Natasha Mazzone, who brought the motion to impeach Mkhwebane to Parliament in the first place.
Mpofu also said Mileham had consistently displayed a hostile and condescending attitude towards him and shared a Tweet with the committee in which Mileham said: “Mpofu is rude, disrespectful and unwilling to accept the rules of Parliament.”
Dyantyi said the committee would give itself time to deliberate on the application and make a decision on the request for recusal. He said the committee would meet again on Friday.
The inquiry resumed work after a week off to allow Mkhwebane and her legal team prepare for her urgent application in the Western Cape High Court for an immediate enforcement of the court’s order setting aside her suspension by Ramaphosa.
The committee had originally been scheduled to proceed with the cross-examination of Public Protector South Africa provincial investigation and integration manager Nelisiwe Thejane that was interrupted by the break for the court challenge, but she was excused to be recalled at a future date.