STAFF REPORTER
SUSPENDED Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application for leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal has been denied by a full bench of the Western Cape High Court.
Mkhwebane sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court over a ruling that the invalidity of her suspension is subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court as it involves a decision of the President.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Democratic Alliance (DA) opposed Mkhwebane’s application for leave to appeal, arguing that it had no merit and should be dismissed.
The Court ordered Mkhwebane to personally pay the legal costs of both President Ramaphosa and DA.
In September, a full bench of the high court Judges Lister Nuku, Matthew Francis and James Lekhuleni declared President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Mkhwebane, invalid and set aside her suspension.
“In our view, the hurried nature of the suspension of [Mkhwebane] in the circumstances, notwithstanding that a judgment of the full court was looming on the same subject matter, leads this court to an ineluctable conclusion that the suspension may have been retaliatory and, hence, unlawful, ” court ruled.
The ruling on her suspension prompted Mkhwebane to lodge an urgent application wanting to be immediately reinstated to her position, but the court dismissed her application saying that its order on her suspension was subject to confirmation by the highest Court in the land, the Constitutional Court.
Mkhwebane’s matter will be heard by the ConCourt on Thursday 24 November.
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