Mkhwebane’s fate sealed, becomes first public protector removed from office

Suspended public protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been removed from office after MPs voted on Monday. 

MPs were at the Cape Town City Hall to vote via a roll call at 2pm. Fourteen political parties, including the ANC, the DA, and the EFF presented their arguments in the house. 

Three hundred and eighteen of the 400 MPs voted in favour of the Parliament’s Section 194 Committee report for Mkhwebane to be removed. Forty-three voted no.

Cope’s Mosiuoa Lekota abstained from voting. 

First public protector to be removed 

Mkhwebane is the first public protector to be removed from a Chapter 9 institution.

DA MP Siviwe Gwarube said her removal must serve as a lesson to the institution on the importance of selecting fit-for-purpose candidates at all times, given that a new public protector will be announced next Thursday.

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“Today was not just a vote to remove the first head of a Chapter 9 institution but a confirmation of the DA’s relentless commitment to the rule of law and accountability,” said Gwarube. 

She said a competent candidate should replace Mkhwebane.

‘Political witch hunt’

EFF treasurer general Omphile Maotwe said the report to remove Mkhwebane was the political witch hunt by the DA and supported by the ANC to punish Mkhwebane in order to protect President Cyril Ramaphosa.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said Mkhwebane was being targeted because she “hit a raw nerve” with her 2019 report.

“The ANC has closed ranks with a vengeance, and we are at the juncture where they are merely getting rid of her for doing her job too well,” said Holomisa. 

“This House should come up with a mechanism to establish which companies are doing business with government and have donated to this campaign and why monies ended up in some cabinet members’ pockets as shown in [Mkhwebane’s 2019 report].”

ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina, ahead of the vote, said if party members voted against the party line, which was to vote for Mkhwebane to be removed, they would be dealt with, and the party is not afraid to part ways with them. 

ANC MP Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was not in parliament for the vote.