High court dismisses Mkhwebane’s bid to block Parliament’s impeachment process

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has suffered yet another blow in the courts, after the Western Cape High Court on Friday morning dismissed her bid to interdict the parliamentary process to impeach her from office.

Mkhwebane wanted the high court to interdict President Cyril Ramaphosa from suspending her as well as the impeachment proceedings in Parliament.

However, the full bench of the Western Cape High Court rejected her application in a unanimous judgment that found that the “public interest would not be served” by granting the interdict.

Judge Nathan Erasmus delivered the judgment and imposed a costs order against Mkhwebane in her personal capacity.

“Advocate Mkhwebane has, in our view, not demonstrated even a prima facie right for an interdict preventing the parliamentary respondents from continuing with the impeachment process pending her now new second rescission application,” Judge Erasmus said.

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“That having been said, what obviously remains of utmost importance is the fact that the public interest will not be served by the granting of an interdictory relief in these peculiar circumstances.

“Further an interim interdict will prevent the parliamentary respondents from performing their role of determining whether advocate Mkhwebane should be impeached or not,” he added.

Mkhwebane suspended

The dismissal of Mkhwebane’s application comes after Ramaphosa on Thursday suspended her with immediate effect until the parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office is concluded.

Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane in accordance with section 194 (3)(a) of the Constitution after he had given her until 26 May to give him reasons why she should not be suspended.

Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka will take over Mkhwebane’s responsibilities.

Second rescission application

Judge Erasmus also said Mkhwebane’s efforts to halt her impeachment pending the decision on her second rescission application before the Constitutional Court was “legally unsustainable”.

Mkhwebane approached the apex court last month for the second time to challenge its earlier judgment, which cleared the way for Parliament’s impeachment process to go ahead.

“The present application before us seeks to resuscitate advocate Mkhwebane’s previously failed application by preventing the parliamentary respondents from continuing with the impeachment process until all her challenges have been exhausted and perused by way of a second rescission application, this is in our view untenable and legally unsustainable,” Judge Erasmus said.

The parliamentary impeachment process, known as a Section 194 inquiry, is expected to get underway on 11 July.

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