Ivan Pillay 3 – Busisiwe Mkhwebane 0, as Public Protector loses in court again

The High Court in Pretoria this morning has for the third time set aside an order brought forward by the Public Protector against Visvanathan Ivan Pillay, declaring it unlawful.

The court found that the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, completely failed to give any notice to Pillay of the investigation, and he was, therefore, not granted the right to be heard on the remedial action that was being contemplated against him.

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The Court declared such conduct a violation of Pillay’s Constitutional rights.

The Public Protector’s report into “allegations of maladministration and improper conduct relating to irregular procurement processes by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) in the appointment of Budge, Barone & Dominick (Pty) Ltd (BB&D)”, is her third attempt at bringing a bid against Pillay in the event of his early retirement.

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In the two previous cases that were also set aside by the courts, the Public Protector made adverse accusations against Pillay regarding his early retirement from SARS and his pension benefits, his appointment as the former SARS Deputy Commissioner, and also implicated him in the establishment of a SARS investigative unit, deemed by the Public Protector to be “rogue”.

Testifying as a witness on Friday, in the proceedings of the Section 194 Parliamentary inquiry into the fitness of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office, Pillay highlighted a litany of similar abuses of power in these investigations conducted by the Public Protector against him.

The public protector was ordered to pay the costs of this application on the unopposed scale.

Read the full order here: