Concourt postpones Mkhwebane’s CR17 funding case appeal

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court in a case regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign funding has been postponed to November.

This after she opted for a formal court hearing over the virtual one being heard by some courts.

The Constitutional Court said in an order that usually the judges would be on the bench in a formal court hearing, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a formal hearing was not possible.

“Having regard to the applicant’s opposition to a virtual hearing, the hearing of the matter will be postponed,” it added in an order dated 7 September.

The order postponed the hearing to 26 November at 10:00 and if a court sitting was still not possible, a virtual hearing will go ahead.

The Public Protector’s spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, confirmed the postponement.

He said the court had asked which type of hearing the parties would prefer – virtual or in-court.

The Public Protector stated her preference for an in-court hearing.

Segalwe said she did not insist, but the court’s administration made the decision and notified the parties.

The applicants in the cases are the Public Protector, EFF and amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

The respondents are the president of the republic, speaker of the National Assembly, National Director of Public Prosecutions, national commissioner of police and national Financial Intelligence Centre.

Mkhwebane is appealing to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that the Pretoria High Court erred on 10 March when it set aside her findings on a donation to Ramaphosa’s election campaign from Bosasa, that he deliberately misled Parliament when asked about the money.

The court had ruled she made errors in law and did not have the jurisdiction to conduct the investigation into his election campaign.

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