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.
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.