Categories: Courts

We’re not doing this for Mkhwebane, but for the office of the PP – EFF’s Ngcukaitobi

Arguing for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who joined Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in defending her recent report on Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan against being interdicted, advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said the party “carries no can for advocate Mkhwebane”.

“What it carries a can for is the office of the public protector,” he said.

Gordhan is seeking to interdict Mkhwebane from carrying out the remedial action stipulated in the report.

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The advocate said Gordhan escaping his remedial action would see him succeeding in escaping accountability. He offered the example of the social development department, saying if remedial action was made against it instructing it to pay social grants, this couldn’t be suspended for months while legal challenges to it were carried out.

Ngcukaitobi said the public protector often acted on behalf of the everyday person on the street, in what he called “Gogo Dlamini” cases. This he said, had an important constitutional function, and in future, such “Gogo Dlaminis” would not find justice if Gordhan’s interdict succeeds.

Interim orders against the public protector should only be granted in the most serious cases, Ngcukaitobi further argued, or the office of the public protector’s important role in investigating public malfeasance would be compromised.

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Ngcukaitobi brought up Gordhan’s alleged meetings with the Guptas, reiterating Mkhwebane’s finding in her report that he misled parliament by denying he had met with the controversial family.

Ngcukaitobi said it was improbable Gordhan forgot he had met the Guptas when he misled the National Assembly. Mkhwebane had the power to decide whether it was intentional or not.

READ MORE: Gordhan, Mkhwebane to face off in court over Sars rogue unit report

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As for the so-called “rogue unit”, Ngcukaitobi said it was in the public interest to know if Gordhan engaged in spying activities while at Sars, and that this shouldn’t be interfered with through an interdict.

Mkhwebane’s report sees her ordering President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the national police commissioner, the speaker of the National Assembly, and the minister of state security to apply the various remedial actions stipulated in the report.

These include the president taking “appropriate disciplinary action” against Gordhan; parliamentary speaker Thandi Modise hauling Gordhan in front of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests; the NPA finalising the court process relating to its investigation into the “rogue unit”; and police commissioner Khehla Sithole investigating Gordhan’s “criminal conduct”.

She also recommended that Police Minister Bheki Cele investigate criminality on the part of Gordhan and others involved in the intelligence unit.

The president is expected to act against Gordhan in 30 days.

Gordhan’s lawyers argued on Tuesday that the findings against him by the public protector were incorrect and have had both a personal and political impact on him, causing him “irreparable harm”.

He believes the report has had a negative effect on his reputation and standing as a minister.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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By Citizen Reporter