Former Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane left a bitter taste in the mouth of Parliament after her utterances. File Photo: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers
The utterances of former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has rubbed up Parliament the wrong way.
Mkhwebane lashed out and stated her ongoing struggles consistently involved key figures of “predominantly of Indian descent” who have positioned themselves as her “persecutors”.
This comes after her appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) was struck from the roll, with costs.
Judge Visvanathan Ponnan dismissed the appeal which stems from a Western Cape High Court ruling.
In her rant on X (formerly Twitter), Mkhwebane named individuals who have been ‘attacking’ her.
“These individuals include Pravin Gordhan, Bawa (evidence leader), Adhikarie (Chief Legal Advisor of Parliament), Hassan Ebrahim (so-called expert witness), Ivan Pillay (witness), and Fatima Ebrahim (Legal Advisor of Parliament). Judge Poonan's attitude further underscores the challenges and biases I have faced in my quest for justice,” Mkhwebane said.
The spokesperson of Parliament, Moloto Mothapo said it has noted with dismay the unfounded utterances by Mkhwebane which seek to impugn the integrity of Parliament’s staff members, particularly the Chief Parliamentary Legal Advisor, a Parliamentary Legal Advisor as well as Section 194 Committee Evidence Leader.
“There is no merit to the attack levelled against these legal advisors, who have served Parliament with diligence and integrity over the years. The unwarranted attack on these officials, along with the racial slurs used by advocate Mkhwebane is particularly regrettable in a democratic society such as ours, where human dignity should be protected and respected,” Mothapo said.
He said as a member of Parliament and a public representative who owes allegiance to the South African Constitution, Mkhwebane has a responsibility to uphold and protect the values enshrined in the Constitution.
“Advocate Mkhwebane has appropriately sought the court’s intervention to express her dissatisfaction with the outcome of the Section 194 Committee, and the court has now struck the matter from the roll. Parliament reaffirms its commitment to building a non-racial, non-sexist, and democratic South Africa,” Mothapo said.
In 2016, Mkhwebane was appointed as the South African Public Protector.
By September 2023, Mkhwebane was impeached and removed from office, and Kholeka Gcaleka was appointed as her successor by President Cyril Ramaphosa for a non-renewable term of seven years effective November 2023.
The SCA’s decision comes after Mkhwebane approached the Western Cape High Court in November 2022 and sought the recusal of Section 194 Committee chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi, and committee member, Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Kevin Mileham, from her impeachment inquiry.
She claimed bias against Dyantyi and Mileham, who is the wife of DA MP Natasha Mazzone, saying they had to be removed due to a conflict of interest.
The high court application was dismissed in April 2023, and Mkhwebane, now an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP, was granted permission to appeal the ruling in the SCA.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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