PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE Committee for Section 194 Enquiry into Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office has unanimously agreed to adjourn its inquiry until next week.
During the meeting, Mkhwebane appeared before the committee and requested a postponement as she did not have legal representation at the time.
Established on 16 March 2021, the committee’s purpose is to conduct a constitutional inquiry into the PP’s fitness to hold office.
It is expected to conclude its work towards the end of May 2023.
“I will ask and plead with you that you let us postpone the hearing and let Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) follow proper processes and appoint the attorney and agree on the terms and conditions, appoint and brief the legal counsel and we can indeed proceed with the hearings,” Mkhwebane said.
The committee had planned to resume its hearings on Monday but had to adjourn temporarily due to the Public Protector SA’s office indicating that it would not fund Mkhwebane’s legal team beyond 31 March 2023.
During the meeting, committee members expressed their concerns that continuing with the hearings without legal representation for Mkhwebane would be unfair.
However, the committee was informed that the Public Protector’s office had made an additional R4 million available to conclude the process.
The committee’s Chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi, who has been accused of unfairness in the past, ruled that the hearings would resume next Monday.
This would allow Adv Mkhwebane enough time to address any issues related to her legal representation.
“The inquiry is going to proceed. We are not going to have another discussion about this legal team or that legal team is absent. We are resuming next week on Monday with the new or old legal representative,” said Dyantyi.
INSIDE POLITICS
