Mkhwebane bemoans judges who ‘aren’t objective’

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane appeared on SABC’s Frankly Speaking on Sunday night and remained defiant despite suffering a devastating court blow earlier this month.

The judges set aside her Bankorp CIEX report, which found that 1.125 billion needed to be recovered from Absa Bank for a bailout paid to Bankorp by the Reserve Bank during the apartheid era.

The court ordered Mkhwebane to pay 85% of the costs of Absa and the South African Reserve Bank in her official capacity, but to also personally pay 15% of the costs.

At the time of the judgment, Mkhwebane said she was studying it and would decide upon “appropriate action”.

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba‚ the South African Reserve Bank and Absa had complained that Mkhwebane had made findings based on information riddled with factual inaccuracies. These included the findings of previous investigations into the Absa-Bankorp lifeboat as well as non-consideration of material facts provided by other parties.

Mkhwebane’s findings, which were effectively rendered null and void by the court, included that government had neglected its constitutional duty by failing to implement the findings of the Ciex report from a company established by a British investigator, Michael Oatley.

Both the DA and the EFF have called for Mkhwebane to resign, along with other civic bodies.

In a statement, the EFF’s spokesperson Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi said: “The court openly said that it was clear Adv. Mkhwebane does not fully understand her constitutional duty to be impartial. This is due to not disclosing her meetings with the state president [Jacob Zuma] and state security during the court process and investigations.

“We call on her to step down with immediate effect; this judgment means she has failed in her duty. Failure by Adv. Mkhwebane to step down, the EFF will initiate a parliamentary process in terms of section 194 of the Constitution,” he said.

The DA has taken similar steps.

In her interview on Sunday night, an aggrieved-looking Mkhwebane told the show’s host, JJ Tabane, that she did not agree she should face any personal consequences for being on the wrong end of a high court judgment. She suggested the judges may not have been objective in their ruling.

She said the courts, in her view, were there to give direction on matters of law and she had merely been doing her job as a public servant. “Unfortunately again now there is that matter of some of the judges not being objective.”

She said she will remain the public protector until the end of her term in 2023. She has also been dismissive of suggestions that she was too close to former president Jacob Zuma.

Eyewitness News has reported that civil society watchdog Outa will write to the speaker of Parliament to call for a debate on Mkhwebane’s suitability for office.