Johnathan Paoli
The EFF, the ATM and the UDM on Thursday declared their joint condemnation of the Section 194 Enquiry’s final report which recommends the removal of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane from office based on alleged incompetence and misconduct.
The Section 194 Enquiry committee yesterday adopted its final report after a process of 14 months of commencing hearings, in which it recommended to the National Assembly (NA) that Advocate Mkhwebane be removed, based on numerous findings of serious misconduct and incompetence.
The committee was established by the NA on 16 March 2021 to conduct a constitutional inquiry into the Public Protector’s fitness to hold office and was expected to provide the NA with a report by the end of April 2023.
The charges included allegations of misconduct with respect to a report involving the South African Reserve Bank and ABSA Bank, misconduct in the investigation and reporting of the Vrede Dairy Project, deliberately seeking to make adverse findings against certain public officials while not making findings or directing remedial action in respect of others.
The joint statement by the three parties said that the process involved was flawed, irrational and influenced by undue manipulations.
The parties claim that the process has been soiled by a predetermined objective and that the intention was never to conduct a transparent, impartial and sincere inquiry into the former public protector’s competence and conduct, but rather to push a very specific agenda from the beginning with a very clear disregard of any contrary evidence.
The parties said that administrative and procedural aspects of the enquiry was evidently deficient, and despite recognizing the resource constraints on Parliament, felt that the results were compromised due to a rush to complete the process.
Despite this being the first time the National Assembly attempted, via an impeachment process, to remove a Chapter 9 institution head, it was felt that the approach taken failed to sufficiently uphold the principles of justice and fairness.
The statement further called attention to the fact that throughout the enquiry, witness testimony was accepted despite clear evidence of their bias against Mkhwebane, thus rendering their credibility as witnesses questionable. In addition, this links up with allegations against the Chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi, himself who refused to recuse himself and showed a conspicuous animosity towards the public protector.
The matter of Mkhwebane’s legal representation remains contested, with the three parties defending her right to legal counsel and the committee’s flagrant disregard of her constitutionally protected rights.
In the release of the report, Dyantyi said that the outcome was the sole product of a process in which members worked hard to ensure a space of fairness, transparency and without fear, favour or preconceived outcomes.
“This was a novel process. A first of its kind. We ensured that we are fair, unbiased, open and transparent. At no stage did the committee refuse or hinder Adv Mkhwebane from being legally assisted. The committee went above and beyond to assist her and even agreed to summon witnesses on her behalf,” Dyantyi said.
While the temporary EFF-ATM-UDM squadron has expressed their intention to take the committee report on legal review, Dyantyi said that he respects their right to do so but he remains confident that the report will withstand legal scrutiny.
The report will be sent to the NA for adoption after a final session of the committee in which “lessons learnt” as well as matters that arose that require attention will be discussed by the members.
INSIDE POLITICS
