DA reignites campaign for Mkhwebane’s removal

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has relished in the Gauteng High Court finding against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Tuesday in the matter between her and president Cyril Ramaphosa.

The party issued a statement drafted by interim leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday afternoon reigniting calls for her removal from the office of the public protector.

“Yet again, the courts have found Mkhwebane to be unable to perform her responsibilities in a competent, fair and unbiased manner. We hope this brings to an end her disastrous chapter in office. The DA has consistently fought it, ever since her name was first put forward as a possible candidate for appointment,” said Steenhuisen.

RELATED: High court sets aside Mkhwebane’s report into CR17 donation

He went on to state that he is of the belief that successive court rulings against her, as well as photos of “such known state capture agents as Mosebenzi Zwane and Bongani Bongo at her 50th birthday party,” support the DA’s long-held view that her appointment was politically motivated.

Steenhuisen went on to add that her alleged alignment to the pro-Zuma faction of the ANC supports the belief that her appointment was a state capture deployment all along and that this, therefore, makes her unfit for office.

“The DA has tabled a motion in the National Assembly to have her removed from office. We hope this latest court finding will be the evidence needed to swing the balance of opinion and pressure in favour of removing her.”

“Our motion led to the Speaker’s commitment to appoint an independent panel to assess the evidence against her. If the panel finds there is a prima facie case for misconduct or incompetence, then an ad hoc committee of parliament will be established to consider her removal.

“It was clearly irrational for Mkhwebane to have ruled that President Ramaphosa should have appeared before Parliament’s Ethics Committee, since the President is not a member of the house, having resigned his seat upon his election, and is therefore beyond the reach of the committee,” added Steenhuisen.

He concluded by advising that she should now “do the honourable thing and resign” as the latest developments in this case have deeply compromised any of her future findings.

The DA leader went on to lambaste the president, adding that the finding against Mkwehbane do not absolve him of all claims against him.

“For the President to find it above board that his son receives millions of rands in ‘consulting fees’ from a company that does billions of rands of business with the ANC government is simply not right. The fact is that Andile Ramaphosa was only on the Bosasa payroll because he is close to the centre of power. This is an abuse of power,” said Steenhuisen.

READ NEXT: ‘Free us from Eskom,’ says Steenhuisen as he pens open letter to Ramaphosa

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.