PHUTI MOSOMANE
SUSPENDED Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is set to face a Parliamentary enquiry into her fitness to hold in Cape Town next Tuesday after going on sick leave this week.
The ongoing Committee for Section 194 Enquiry had to postpone its hearings for a week after it received a sick note from Mkhwebane, indicating that she has been booked off until next Monday.
Speaking at the committee meeting on Thursday, chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi confirmed that Mkhwebane will appear before the committee next Tuesday.
“The committee has lost a further three days of hearings – today, tomorrow and Monday. The committee’s draft programme will therefore now have to be amended to accommodate the days missed. Furthermore, committee Members will have to sacrifice their constituency period early next month in order to prioritise the committee hearings,” said Dyantyi.
Dyantyi also confirmed that Mkhwebane’s legal representation will only be funded by the Office of the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) until end of March.
He said the committee was copied into correspondence earlier this month from Office of the Public Protector acting Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to Mkhwebane’s attorneys, wherein the Chapter 9 body indicated that it cannot afford to continue to fund the Public Protector’s legal team after March 31 2023 due to lack of funds.
“The work of the office of the Public Protector is suffering due to the expenses related to the enquiry,” said Gcaleka.
The committee further resolved that due to the days lost and the extension of the hearings, urgent intervention is required to address the funding issues.
The committee also noted that it is aware that the Constitutional Court ruled that Mkhwebane is entitled to have legal representation at the hearings.
“We are the last people who can put the PPSA in an unfunded expenditure,” said Dyantyi.
“However, this might impact the work of the committee, but it is not really our space to intervene. The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, the Speaker or the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services should rather be approached to drive this matter.”
Regarding the amended committee programme, members agreed that several options must be considered.
These includes working through the next constituency period, reducing the number of days set aside for members to engage with Mkhwebane through written questions and reducing the number days set aside for closing arguments by providing the committee with written heads of arguments.
The committee was established on March 16 2021 to conduct a constitutional inquiry into the Public Protector’s fitness to hold office, and it is now expected to conclude its work towards the end of May 2023.
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