Mkhwebane has a god complex

Wikipedia defines a god complex as an ”unshakable belief characterised by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit failure, even in the face of complex problems or difficult tasks, or may regard personal opinions as unquestionably correct. The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges.”

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s insistence that she is always under attack by everyone, including the judiciary, shows she has a god complex.

This past week she released her final reports for the year, and expects SA to believe the contents, while she unflinchingly accuses anyone who criticises her of having ulterior motives.

She started the past week on an unexpected high note. Advocate Basani Baloyi’s application to the Constitutional Court to be reinstated to her position in Mkhwebane’s office was dismissed because the court found it did not have jurisdiction over such matters. It’s a rare victory for Mkhwebane, who has routinely lost court cases during the course of 2019.

Mkhwebane’s celebrations were short-lived: before she could say the word victory, a whistleblower in her office alleged she had instructed sections implicating Ace Magashule and Mosebenzi Zwane to be removed from the report on the Estina Dairy Farm. As expected, she alleges the whistleblower is either a disgruntled employee or facing disciplinary action.

She caused a storm by taking to Twitter to accuse the judiciary of finding against her using media articles: “I hope other PPs won’t have to deal with what I’ve been through; harrassed daily including my family; certain journalists tasked to deal with me and questionable judgments. It looks like we are faced with a constitutional crisis. Never thought I’d see this post 1994.”

The problem is, she did not accuse the judiciary of bias when she won the case against Baloyi but as soon as the tables turn she alleges a constitutional crisis. In other words: she cannot be wrong. Judges, according to her, are incompetent and base judgments on media reports, but they’re not wrong when they rule in her favour.

Only six months ago, she claimed on Twitter she can only be removed from the office that she occupies by God; the God that she serves. There is nothing wrong with her being God-fearing, but there is everything wrong with such an assertion because she was appointed through a parliamentary process and to now invoke God when she’s found wanting is not far from former cricketer Hansie Cronje claiming he took bribes to fix games because “the devil made me do it.”

People in public office must know that their accountability is to the structures that put them there and the people of South Africa.

Mkhwebane’s most worrisome part of her god complex is her belief that she can judge the country’s judges, but the constitution does not allow judges to pass legal judgments on her.

She not only believes that her position is much higher than that of judges but that she can publicly criticise the judiciary. The only way to disagree with judges is through the courts. Opinions on the competency of judges must be voiced through legal processes. As an advocate, Mkhwebane should know this.

She and her office are not beyond reproach.

Sydney Majoko

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