THE curtains are closing on suspended Public Protector (PP) Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
On Friday, 11 August, the Section 194 Enquiry into her fitness to hold office decided to recommend to the National Assembly (NA) that she be removed.
It justified this on the basis of the conclusive evidence it had received to support charges of incompetence and misconduct against her.
Mkhwebane will now be given a final opportunity to respond in writing to the draft report by 21 August 2023, said committee spokeswoman Rajaa Azzakani. She said the committee would consider her input and then adopt a final report to be submitted to the NA.
Azzakani said that at the start of the meeting today the committee received correspondence indicating that Mkhwebane's latest attorneys - Chaane Attorneys - had withdrawn as its senior counsel had not been briefed since their appointment.
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She said the committee was also informed during the meeting about an application by Advocate Winston Erasmus for committee chairman Qubudile Dyantyi to recuse himself. Erasmus' application centred on events from the time he was a researcher for the ANC in the Western Cape and worked with Dyantyi, who at the time was allegedly campaigning for Cyril Ramaphosa to become president of the ANC.
Dyantyi said he would not reconsider his earlier decision not recuse himself.
"The committee resolved that it will not entertain Advocate Erasmus' application as it is not relevant to the mandate of the committee," said Azzakani.
"The committee re-emphasised that at no stage did it refuse or hinder Mkhwebane from being legally represented. The committee highlighted that in fact, it assisted her by halting its process to resolve funding issues and secure additional funding, despite this not being part of the committee's mandate."
Azzakani said that the majority of members who attended the meeting were in favour of Mkhwebane's removal and that the decision was based on the overwhelming and conclusive evidence presented to the committee.
"Two political parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Al Jama-ah, voted against the recommendation of removal. The EFF, which did not object to any of the committee's findings during deliberations, complained about the fairness of the process and said it intends to take the report on review," she said.
The committee was set up on 16 March 2021 to conduct a constitutional enquiry into the PP's fitness to hold office. Committee documents can be found at Committee for Section 194 Enquiry- Parliament of South Africa at Committee for Section 194 Enquiry- Parliament of South Africa
