Mkhwebane clearly doesn’t understand Constitution – Zille

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane could be the first public protector in more than 23 years to face a parliamentary inquiry into her conduct, IOL reports.

The DA will present its arguments for Mkhwebane’s dismissal in Parliament on Wednesday.

The opposition party has been putting pressure on the National Assembly committee on justice to institute proceedings to remove Mkhwebane since May. Other parties, such as the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), have called on her to be fired for her apparent inability to do her job.

READ MORE: Mkhwebane protects public from Zille’s tweets

The portfolio committee on justice held a meeting last week, with MPs saying they wanted to determine if they would go ahead with the inquiry, and if so, what its scope would be.

Since taking office, the public protector has been the focus of several complaints, including allegations that she is not fit to hold office and should be replaced.

Public Protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane is seen during a press briefing held at her offices, 4 December 2017, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Thuli Madonsela’s successor has had her findings questioned, and been taken to court on numerous occasions.

The latest controversy surrounds her nonattendance at a meeting of the portfolio committee on justice last Wednesday. MPs were enraged by her late cancellation, allegedly because of a “family emergency”. Mkhwebane apologised for her nonattendance in Parliament on Wednesday.

Democratic Alliance chief whip John Steenhuisen made a request to the committee that Mkhwebane should be sacked because of the number of reports from her office that have been taken on judicial review.

In a Pretoria High Court judgment in February, Mkhwebane was described as “biased” and found to “not fully understand her constitutional duty”. Her remedial action in the Bankorp saga was set aside by the court.

The DA has now added to the list of Mkhwebane’s offences the recently released finding that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille violated the Constitution when she tweeted about the virtues of colonialism in March 2017.

This morning, Helen Zille told Cape Talk that Mkhwebane “clearly doesn’t understand the Constitution”.

Regarding Mkhwebane’s finding, the Western Cape premier said: “I will be taking it on review. I will definitely be doing that because the public protector clearly doesn’t understand the Constitution or law. It’s incredibly important for us to protect the Constitution and the values and principles in it.”

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