Johnathan Paoli
The Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has lost her legal battle, after the Constitutional Court found that there was a rational reason for her precautionary suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The DA and the President’s applications have been upheld and the confirmatory order that Mkhwebane was seeking has been dismissed.
The Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya handed down judgement on Thursday, finding that the evidence presented to the court failed to illustrate the potential exposure of the President to a situation involving a risk of conflict in his official capacity and that he stood nothing to gain from the suspension, since the acting Public Prosecutor continued with the investigation.”
Thus the ‘retaliation’ argument does not stand, as the decision by the President had no effect on the continuance of the investigation and the culmination of the Phala Phala report.
“The President did not suspend the Public Protector to prejudice her. The suspension is only a precautionary one and does no harm to her as she remains on full pay, has time to properly attend to her defence in the Section 194 inquiry and suffers no reputational harm,” adds Justice Maya.
This follows the Western Cape High Court’s order, declaring her suspension invalid.
Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane in June last year.
DA Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach MP welcomed the judgement and confirmed the DA’s view that the Western Cape High Court ruling that declared her suspension as invalid and set aside, was subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court and that this remains important as it will protect the Office of the Public Protector while the Committee for Section 194 Enquiry concludes it work.
“The DA urges Adv. Mkhwebane to cease engaging in litigation, aimed at stalling the Section 194 inquiry proceedings, and instead offer the Section 194 Committee her full support and cooperation in order for it to reach a timely conclusion”, Breytenbach added.
It is so far unknown whether Mkhwebane will apply for a rescission order from the Constitutional Court.
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