No legitimate inquiry will find me guilty, says confident Mkhwebane

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she is confident that no legitimate parliamentary inquiry will find her guilty of the charges brought against her by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Mkhwebane was responding to parliament’s decision to proceed with the impeachment process against her amid a controversial leak.

Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Section 194 Inquiry met on Wednesday to discuss the process into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.

This is after the public protector saw her rescission application dismissed by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) last Thursday, 6 May.

Mkwebane has filed another rescission application in a bid to reverse the 6 May ruling.

The public protector wants the ConCourt to rescind its own ruling pending the outcome of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s investigation into the leaking of information, allegedly, by Ismail Abramjee.

Last week, Mkhwebane opened a criminal case against Abramjee and his unknown accomplice or accomplices.

READ MORE: Another win for Ramaphosa as court dismisses Mkhwebane’s CR17 rescission application

Abramjee is alleged to be the man who had claimed to be aware of the ConCourt judgment regarding Mkhwebane’s rescission application, which was leaked.

It is said that Abramjee sent an SMS to advocate Andrew Breitenbach, the lead senior counsel for National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, saying that he had it “on good authority” that the ConCourt had decided to dismiss Mkhwebane’s application.

While Zondo recently told SABC that the leaking of the judgment was “unacceptable”, and that an investigation had been launched, Mkhwebane also indicated that her office would also be investigating the alleged ConCourt leak to the extent that the law permitted.

Parliamentary inquiry ‘unacceptable’

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Mkhwebane reiterated her calls for any lawful inquiry to proceed “as soon as possible”, as she was confident that no “legitimate” inquiry would find her guilty of the charges brought against her by the DA.

Mkhwebane, however, slammed the decision to start her impeachment process now as “unacceptable”.

“The outcome of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s investigation into allegations of corruption implicating Ismail Abramjee and one or more persons within the Constitutional Court, which will have a huge bearing on all the related processes, whould be awaited by all reasonable people and institutions,” said Mkhwebane.

“No legitimate court or parliamentary step ought to be taken until the outcome of the pending investigation is known. The public protector will therefore leave no stone unturned in the quest for justice, the vindication of the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. It is her duty to protect the public from alleged wrongdoing and/or criminality by any person or public institution even at the highest level of the state.”

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa