Africa-Press – South-Africa. If you have ambitions to follow in Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s footsteps to become Public Protector, it is time to polish that CV. But you don’t have to be in too much of a rush.
The beleaguered Mkhwebane’s term of office ends in October, and at Thursday’s meeting of the National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC), it became a matter of urgency to select her successor in a truncated parliamentary calendar.
House chairperson Cedric Frolick, also known as the chair of chairs, informed the NAPC that the Chief Whips Forum had met on Wednesday to discuss the process for the selection of a new Public Protector.
Two proposals are on the table: an ad hoc committee consisting of 11 members, or an ad hoc committee consisting of 11 voting members and 14 non-voting members.
He said the whips had asked to discuss it with their party leaders, and report back by 25 May. He said by then it should be clear which road to follow, as a resolution would have to be put to the House.
“Why are we saying that it is urgent? We are also saying it is urgent because the committee will have to be established after the House agrees to it. It must elect the chairperson, it must look at the programme, and it must [place] the advert that must go out. And that in itself takes time, for the advert and for the applications to be received,” said Frolick.
“And thereafter, the process will kick in of going through all the applications, looking at the shortlisting and the vetting process, and also then the interviews that must take place. And we must also leave sufficient time for the new identified candidate to then be involved in a handover process so that there is a seamless transfer of authority in that office from the one incumbent to the other incumbent.”
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula agreed that it had “become an urgent matter”.
As did her deputy, Lechesa Tsenoli.
“We as Parliament must not be seen to be delaying, for whatever reason,” he said.
According to the Public Protector Act, the Public Protector must be a South African citizen “who is a fit and proper person to hold such office”, and who is one of the following:
Parliament has limited time to select the new Public Protector before October. It will be on an extended “constituency period” from 18 June to 31 August.
Meanwhile, it appears that there is movement with regards to the Section 194 inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness for office.
In a discussion about which venues would be used for the budget vote debates next week, it was mentioned that committee room M46, which the Section 194 committee has been using, had been booked from Monday by that committee.
The NAPC also heard that the Section 194 committee had indicated that it would update its programme in the coming days.
The inquiry ground to a halt last month due to an impasse about the funding of Mkhwebane’s legal representation.
On 1 March, acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka wrote to Mkhwebane and the Section 194 committee, informing her that the office would not be able to fund her legal team beyond 31 March, the end of the 2022-23 financial year.
Mkhwebane didn’t brief her legal team – consisting of advocates Dali Mpofu SC, Bright Shabalala, Hangwi Matlhape and Seanego Attorneys – beyond this date. While the hearings screeched to a halt, the committee initially continued to hear from the evidence leaders on the documentary evidence before the committee, which mostly consisted of court papers and rulings.
The National Treasury has been roped in to find funds, as Mkhwebane is insistent that the state should pay for her legal representation. She is entitled to full legal representation during the proceedings, following a February 2022 Constitutional Court ruling which didn’t specify who should pick up the bill.
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