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‘Self-evidently dead on arrival’: SCA dismisses Mkhwebane’s ‘frivolous’ appeal on Section 194
The judge was also critical of Advocate Dali Mpofu for 'losing all objectivity'.
Former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
Former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will have to fork out legal costs after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed, and criticised, her “frivolous” appeal application.
On Tuesday, the SCA struck from the roll Mkhwebane’s leave to appeal application against a previous ruling by the Western Cape High Court.
Dali Mpofu criticised in court
Judge Visvanathan Ponnan also rebuked Mkhwebane’s legal practitioner, Advocate Dali Mpofu, for not objectively analysing the case.
“Exasperated sighs, soapbox oratory, empty rhetoric, political posturing, theatrical gestures and long-winded dismissive non-sequiturs have no place in a courtroom,” said Judge Ponnan.
“To understand the decision-making process, those who practice in this court are expected to have more than just a nodding acquaintance with the relevant rules, as also the established jurisprudence of this court. Developed skills in legal research, analysis and writing are an indispensable part of an appellate practitioner’s toolkit.”
The judge also criticised Mpofu for failing to advise Mkhwebane to not go ahead with the appeal.
“Unless the matter is approached from a detached perspective, a legal representative may well develop tunnel vision, thereby losing all objectivity. Had counsel stepped back apace or had Ms Mkwebane taken advice from a disinterested member of the bar, schooled in appellate practice, she would have been advised not to pursue this appeal.”
Mkhwebane seeks recusal of Section 194 members
In November 2022, Mkhwebane approached the high court, seeking the recusal of Section 194 Committee chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi, and committee member, Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Kevin Mileham, from her impeachment inquiry.
Mkhwebane argued that Dyantyi was biased against her and claimed Mileham had a conflict of interest due to his wife being DA MP Natasha Mazzone.
Mazzone initiated the motion to investigate Mkhwebane’s fitness for office in 2016.
ALSO READ: Mkhwebane takes impeachment fight to SCA, argues her rights were violated
Although Mkhwebane’s application was dismissed by the high court in April 2023, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP was granted permission to appeal the ruling in the SCA.
Despite the ongoing legal battle, the National Assembly proceeded with Mkhwebane’s impeachment last September, as there was no interdict or court order in place to stop the process.
SCA judgment on Mkhwebane’s appeal
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Judge Ponnan, along with four concurring judges, highlighted that Mkhwebane’s application to the SCA was filed under the name of the Office of the Public Protector, despite the EFF MP pursuing the case to “advance her personal interests”.
“‘Curiouser and curiouser!’, to borrow from Lewis Carroll, is how one may describe the matter,” the introduction of the judgment reads.
“What is more, the application, the subject of the appeal, which had commenced as an urgent application, had been brought in the middle of a process that has since been finalised, and was thereafter followed by no less than three further decisions – none of which have been challenged,” Ponnan said.
READ MORE: Gcaleka tells court Mkhwebane left PPSA ‘in financial dire straits’
The judge pointed out that the attorneys instructed to represent Mkhwebane in the appeal were not authorised by her successor, Kholeka Gcaleka, on behalf of the Chapter 9 institution.
“The stance adopted by the respondents throughout had always been that Ms Mkhwebane was improperly using the cloak of her office to advance her personal interests (and not those of the Office of the Public Protector) in the litigation.”
Mkhwebane has not challenged impeachment
Ponnan further stated that Mkhwebane has already been removed from office as a result of her impeachment, thus, the Section 194 Committee has ceased to exist.
“Not having challenged her removal as public protector (or even attempted to do so), the recommendations and resolutions culminating in her removal thus stand.
“Despite her challenge before the high court having long been overtaken by these events, Ms Mkhwebane seeks to persist in the appeal.
“She urges this court to enquire into the legality of three interlocutory rulings, made during the enquiry by the Section 194 Committee and she asks for those rulings to be set aside and substituted.
READ MORE: Busisiwe Mkhwebane entitled to R10m gratuity payout, court hears
“But the inquiry is over, the National Assembly has impeached her, she has been removed from office and a new public protector has been appointed,” the judgment further reads.
“Further, in terms of Section 183 of the Constitution, Ms Mkhwebane’s non-renewable seven-year term has run its course.
“There can hardly be a challenge to any of those decisions now, given that her fixed term of office would in any event have ended in mid-October 2023, had she not been removed. Restoration to office is thus constitutionally and factually impossible.”
‘Frivolous’ appeal struck off the roll
Therefore, Ponnan ruled that as there was neither “an appeal properly before this court, nor an appellant to prosecute it”.
In this event, the judge found that Mkhwebane’s application, described to be “self-evidently dead on arrival“, must be struck from the roll.
“The regret is that unmeritorious appeals, such as this, impact not just the immediate parties and the court (that has to increasingly deal with congested court rolls), but also other litigants whose matters are truly deserving of the attention of this court.
“Those litigants have to wait in line whilst we process frivolous appeals such as this.
“In the result, the appeal is struck from the roll with costs, including those of two counsel, to be paid by Ms Busisiwe Mkhwebane,” reads Ponnan’s judgment.
NOW READ: Denying Mkhwebane R10m gratuity ‘arbitrary, cruel, degrading’ – Mpofu
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