EFF call on Public Protector to step down following court ruling

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have called on Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to step down from the office of the Public Protector following the scathing judgement against her handed down from a full bench of the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.

The judges set aside the public protector’s Bankorp CIEX report which found that R1,125 billion must be recovered from Absa Bank – Bankorp was the predecessor of Absa – for a bailout paid to Bankorp by the Reserve Bank during the apartheid era.

The court ordered Mkhwebane to pay 85 percent of the costs of Absa and the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) in her official capacity, but to personally pay 15 percent of the costs.

ALSO READ: Judges lash Mkhwebane for bias over her Absa bailout report

In a statement, the EFF’s spokesperson Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi said: “The court openly said that it was clear Adv. Mkhwebane does not fully understand her constitutional duty to be impartial. This is due to not disclosing her meetings with state President and state security during the court process and investigations.”

Ndlozi said in order to maintain the integrity of the public protector’s office then Mkhwebane, for being misleading and failing to be impartial has to step down, as this, Ndlozi added, shows she is “hellbent on undermining the mandate of the office and the constitution.”

“We call on her to step down with immediate effect; this judgment means she has failed in her duty. Failure by Adv. Mkhwebane to step down, the EFF will initiate a parliamentary process in terms of section 194 of the Constitution,” he said.

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