A SECRET ballot is the best way to decide the removal of Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
This is according to United Democratic Movement (UDM) president Bantu Holomisa in a letter sent to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday, 6 September.
He said among the reasons UDM wants the vote to be a secret was because of the alleged "insensitive" remarks made by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula that the only reason for the absence of ANC caucus members would be death.
"This is particularly distasteful given the actual and untimely death of Hon. (Tina) Joemat-Pettersson for reasons widely believed to be connected to the Inquiry. The actual cause of her suspicious death is still a subject of many, pending investigations," said Holomisa.
Members of Parliament (MPs) are expected to vote on Monday, 11 September, on whether or not to remove suspended Mkhwebane from office.
Parliament's Committee for Section 194 Enquiry into Mkhwebane's fitness to hold office found her guilty on Wednesday, 30 July and recommended she should be impeached.
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On the same day, MPs will vote on whether or not Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka is appointed as the new Public Protector.
Holomisa said some of the members who will be voting were members who not only formed part of the Mkhwebane inquiry but also members of the Ethics Committee, which is still seized with the matter of Joemat-Pettersson.
"Having such members voting openly will undermine the integrity of the voting process in the eyes of the public. Notably, some of these members were correctly recused from any participation in the investigation of that complaint due to the obvious perception of bias," he said.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) president, Vuyo Zungula, has also written Mapisa-Nqakula with the same request but arguing that the ANC will again force its members on how to vote.
He said December's open vote on President Cyril Ramaphosa's impeachment proceedings showed that ANC members who voted with their conscience faced consequences for not toeing the party line.
Holomisa said the ANC and the DA partnership throughout Section 194 and the support for each other in litigations was toxic.
"We are confident that if you properly apply your mind to the specific facts, history and context of this particular Section 194 process, you can only come to the conclusion that in respect of this matter, the voting must be conducted by way of a secret ballot," he said.
