Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she is disappointed at the indignity of personal insults contained in Pravin Gordhan’s urgent application to interdict the implementation of her remedial action against him.
The Public Enterprises Minister filed Wednesday.
Mkhwebane said her office had not been served with the papers yet, but that she was “disappointed at the indignity of personal insults contained in the court application.”
The statement added: “It is our considered opinion that the emotive language and personal insults and blatant lies or innuendos are meant to divert attention from the real issues and the findings.”
Gordhan indicated in his affidavit, filed as part of the urgent application in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, that the public protector is incompetent or biased.
Mkhwebane said she accepts that a review is part of the prescribed process available to aggrieved parties to challenge reports emanating from her office, but that the emotive language in Gordhan’s application is below the dignity of both their high offices.
The Public protector said she has confidence in the veracity of her findings and would be defending the application.
