I’ve been accused of poisoning my late husband, says Mkhwebane

At a speech at the South African Sheriff’s Society (SASS) in Mpumalanga on Friday night, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkwhebane alleged that she had been the victim of a targeted attack on her office that she claimed had included “threats of arrest for money laundering” and “poisoning”.

It was reported by EWN that Mkhwebane was alleging that she herself was poisoned, however, it appears she was actually saying that she was accused of poisoning someone else and threatened with arrest. News24 reported that it was her late husband that she stood accused of having poisoned.

According to Mkhwebane, the threats of arrest are as a result of her investigation of Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan’s role in an alleged “rogue unit” at Sars.

The Citizen reported over the weekend that her address at the SASS was controversial mainly due to her claim that she was placed in her position by God and that only God could remove her.

The public protector began by congratulating newly appointed sheriffs, but soon changed focus in a speech that centred around her apparent belief that she and her office were under attack.

Mkhwebane spoke of “attacks raining down” on her office “from every angle”.

READ MORE: Public protector claims only God can remove her from office

She mentioned various insults that have been levelled against her. These included her being called “incompetent” by a minister, an “idiot” by a director general, and a “moron” by journalists, one of which she alleged also used the f-word in a social media rant about her. She also said she had been labelled a “Zuptoid” and a “Zupta protector”.

She further claimed that she was subject to “the most unfair reporting in the media” and that she wasn’t offered a “right of reply” on stories about her.

She also said she had faced “malicious damage” of her property and “threats to the safety of her family”. She said these were as a result of her report on the Vrede Dairy Project, that had since been declared invalid at the High Court in Pretoria.

The official Twitter account for the office of the public protector transcribed Mkhwebane’s SASS speech in its entirety. The thread can be found here.

The Sunday Independent reported over the weekend that it had seen a leaked report from Mkhwebane’s office which found President Cyril Ramaphosa guilty of “inadvertently misleading” parliament by failing to declare a R500,000 donation to his ANC presidential campaign made by hugely controversial facilities management company Bosasa’s CEO, Gavin Watson.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has since threatened to take action if the report is not released by the end of the week.

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