MPs muster the machinery to remove Mkhwebane
THE removal of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and appointment of her deputy Kevin Malunga is expected to take centre stage when the justice and correctional services portfolio committee meets tomorrow.
A schedule of meetings show that the meeting will consider the request from DA chief whip John Steenhuisen to start a parliamentary process to remove Mkhwebane from office.
In May Steenhuisen asked National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise to start removal proceedings against Mkhwebane after the North Gauteng High Court set aside her report into the Vrede dairy project.
Last week the National Assembly programme committee agreed on the need to formulate a means to remove Mkhwebane after Steenhuisen highlighted the absence of a process to accomplish that. Steenhuisen said there was a need for a firewall after it was interdicted by the NPA’s Nomgcobo Jiba.
“What we don’t want to do is for the committee to start the process and end up interdicted,” he said.
Mkhwebane has threatened legal action if Parliament goes ahead with trying to remove her from office and has argued that the legislature has no rules on the procedure to follow to remove her. Modise said Steenhuisen’s letter had awoken them to the fact that there was no mechanism to deal with issues within Chapter Nine institutions and added that the portfolio committee had been instructed to look into the matter.
“In fact, they are moving a little bit too slowly. We had thought that by now they would have reported whether the committee is capable to work on the mechanism or refer it to the rules committee,” Modise said.
Also tomorrow, the committee will be briefed on the appointment of a new deputy public protector.
The committee was earlier this month tasked by Modise to report on a letter she sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa informing him of the expiry of Deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga’s term in December and the need to recruit a replacement.
The matter was discussed at a meeting last week when committee secretary Vhonani Ramaano informed members about Modise’s letter.
Ramaano said the committee would have to discuss the process to be followed in the appointment of a new deputy public protector.
Committee chairperson Bulelani Magwanishe said the committee’s draft programme did not incorporate the appointment of the deputy public protector, because Modise’s letter was referred to the committee when the draft programme was circulated to members.
The interdict has also impacted on the committee, a move that requires it to re-examine its programme.
“We will redraft the programme and reflect this issue of the appointment of deputy public protector,” Magwanishe said.
He stated that the appointment would need to be advertised and candidates interviewed.