Parliament’s impeachment process ‘illegal’, says Mkhwebane

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she is not pulling delaying tactics on the parliamentary processes looking into her fitness to hold office.

Mkhwebane was speaking to 702 on Wednesday morning.

“I can’t subject myself to this illegal process. I am not a superwoman, I work with a team,” she said.

Mkhwebane said it was not fair she takes the blame alone when reports are reviewed.

She said while she was willing to subject herself to the process, she needed some issues clarified and proper legal processes followed in compliance with the country’s Constitution.

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“The process of appointing the panel in the meantime and the panel, the way they conducted the process, whether it is within the law, whether that process is constitutional, so that’s all that I was trying to do but at the end of the day I am willing to subject myself.”

Mkhwebane is challenging Parliament’s impeachment rules from 7 to 11 June. This is after the National Assembly appointed a committee to enquire if there were reasonable grounds for her removal.

Mkhwebane also said her office was not investigating Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and his links to Digital Vibes.

Political parties and some private organisations including some cadres in the ANC have been calling for Mkhize to step aside.

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The DA said that Mkhize could not be both “player and referee” in his own fate and needed to step aside.

However, Mkihwebane said that so far her office had not received any complaints against the minister.

“We have not received a complaint, I have not seen any complaint if we have received it. When people are lodging complaints irrespective of whether it’s a member of parliament, legislature executives, they lodge them through our legislation process.

“At times I will not be aware of a matter until it is reported in the media and when we check we discover that a complaint has been lodged,” Mkhwebane said.