History will judge Mkhwebane harshly

Like the SABC’s Hlaudi Motsoeneng – who was a legend in his own mind – outgoing public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has no lack of blind hubris.

In her own words: “For me, I am one of the best ever.”

In a way, that echoed Motsoeneng’s various claims of his own ability, ranging from that he was a “genius” at broadcasting and was “an intellectual lecturer” at Wits University.

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What made Mkhwebane’s words so interesting, to be kind, was that they came as the Constitutional Court put yet another nail – perhaps the final one – in the coffin of her public service career, by dismissing her application to have her suspension as public protector overturned.

The list of court judgments that have gone against her is long and damning, for it indicates that she failed on many legal and factual grounds to do the job she was supposed to.

The question remains: was she naturally incompetent, or was she trying to bend and twist accepted legal practice to suit the people she was trying to protect – people around Jacob Zuma and the ruinous state capture network?

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Whatever the answer, history will judge Mkhwebane harshly, her claims notwithstanding that she was persecuted as a capable black woman.