Africa-Press – South-Africa. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane issued an ultimatum to the Section 194 committee inquiring into her fitness for office to stop a meeting in which it started hearing from evidence leaders, or she would take “whatever necessary steps”.
On Monday, Mkhwebane appeared before the committee without her legal team, which she hadn’t instructed beyond 31 March after the Office of the Public Protector indicated that it couldn’t continue to foot her burgeoning legal bill beyond that date.
Despite protestations from Mkhwebane and EFF, ATM and UDM MPs who support her, the committee heard from the evidence leaders about court records on Mkhwebane’s litigation on her CR17 report.
The committee’s legal advisor, Fatima Ebrahim, confirmed that the committee was within its rights to do so.
This was set to continue on Tuesday.
At the start of the committee meeting, Mkhwebane raised her hand on the virtual platform.
Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi said as it was a committee meeting and not a hearing. He would not allow her to speak.
However, taking a leaf from her former advocate, Dali Mpofu SC, and EFF MPs’ playbook, Mkhwebane proceeded to speak nonetheless, saying she had written an urgent letter. She said the evidence leaders weren’t members of the committee either and ignored the fact that the committee had asked them to deliver their presentation.
“Just mute her! It’s a committee meeting. You are completely out of order and I’m not going to take that attitude from you,” said Dyantyi.
Mkhwebane later tweeted the letter.
“I write you this urgent letter to express my deepest concerns about the latest turn of events regarding the postponement of the [inquiry] proceedings only to be replaced by a ‘committee meeting’ which is actually an opportunity given to the evidence leaders to present closing arguments regarding the merits of charges 11.3 and 11.4 of the Mazzone motion,” Mkhwebane wrote.
“What was most puzzling was your unilateral and unsolicited decision to invite the evidence leaders to present an analysis of the evidence which was led by me thus far, to the committee during what has been labelled as a committee meeting but is in actual fact a backdoor [inquiry] thinly disguised as a ‘meeting’,” Mkhwebane wrote.
She claimed evidence leaders were “presenting their closing oral arguments”.
“To do so when the evidence is still being led, right in the middle of the testimony of a key witness, who is still on the stand in the physical absence of me and/or my legal team is a travesty of justice. I am accordingly most perturbed by what is clearly a flagrant violation.
“There is nothing in any of the applicable legal instruments which allows the chairperson and/or the majority of committee members, to conduct themselves in such a patently and grossly irregular manner.”
She claimed the committee had acted in contravention of the Constitution, in contempt of court and in breach of the committee’s rules and directives.
She also wrote:
“I await your urgent and immediate response which must reach me in writing by no later than 13:00 on Thursday, 6 April 2023. In such a response, please also furnish me with full and adequate reasons for any refusal to accede to this demand.”
Mkhwebane, who says she is without legal representation because she can’t afford it, didn’t indicate by whom she was “advised to demand”. She also didn’t indicate who would fund the “whatever necessary steps” she would take.
She has launched several court applications against the impeachment process, the latest being an application to review Dyantyi’s decision not to recuse himself. Judgment is awaited in this matter.
Dyantyi said the committee would deal with the letter later, and evidence leaders, advocate Nazreen Bawa, SC, and advocate Ncumisa Mayosi, continued to brief the committee on the CR17/Bosasa matter.
The meeting continues.
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