What motivated Mkhwebane’s pursuit of certain people?

Constitutional Court Judge Chris Jafta yesterday raised the issue which has caused many people to wonder: is it possible for the public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to be so awful at her job… or is there something else at play?

In giving the hapless Mkhwebane yet another judicial roasting – this time over her abysmally bad report on the contentious “CR17”campaign funding – Jafta said: “The public protector, like all of us, is fallible and mistakes are to be expected in the course of the exercise of her powers.

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“But what is troubling in this matter is the series of weighty errors, some of which defy any characterisation of an innocent mistake.”

That is certainly a telling observation, given that Mkhwebane appears to have been hell-bent, in a series of reports, at pushing a line sympathetic to the Jacob Zuma faction within the ANC and critical of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies.

Is that merely a coincidence? That’s a question which must be asked of the person who is supposed to oversee the work of the government and civil service in a manner which reflects the utmost impartiality.

The office of the public protector is intended for a highly qualified – and experienced – lawyer and Mkhwebane seemed to fit the bill when she was appointed.

Yet, her repeated defeats in judicial reviews – and the punitive costs awarded against her in a personal capacity in one – indicate a scarcely believable level of incompetence.

But, if it was not incompetence, what exactly was the motivation behind Mkhwebane’s pursuit of certain people? Could she herself by aligned to the Zuma faction – if not formally, then at least sympathetically?

This is an issue which goes further than Mkhwebane herself. Her office is an important part of the system of checks and balances which underpins our democracy.

It must always be beyond reproach.