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The public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has promised to cooperate with the authorities in her pending perjury case, agreeing to appear in court because she “trusts” that it will “absolve her of any crime.”
Mkhwebane is expected to appear in court on January 21, 2021, on charges of perjury stemming from a case opened by Accountability Now attorney Paul Hoffman in 2019.
Mkhwebane received a summons to appear before the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Tuesday, December 15, to face charges of perjury.
The case opened by Hoffman was based on a Constitutional Court decision upholding an earlier adverse decision by the Gauteng division of the High Court in Pretoria regarding its South African Reserve Bank-CIEX investigative report.
The highest court of South African law also ruled that Mkhwebane was not honest in her investigation into an apartheid-era deal between the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Absa bank, which acted in bad faith, which remained “Egregiously short of what is required” from his office, and that his report on the matter was flawed.
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The conviction also found that Mkhwebane had “presented a number of falsehoods” in court, “including misrepresentation under oath.”
In a statement on Friday, her office said: “As a law-abiding citizen, the public protector will cooperate and appear in court on January 21, 2021 as necessary and trusts that the court will absolve her of any wrongdoing.”
Mkhwebane said she learned through media reports that Hoffman had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting that he suspend her.
“This is not the first time that attorney Hoffman SC has tried to catch the public protector. In July 2019, she filed a complaint with the Council on Legal Practice to remove her from the list of advocates. In March 2020, the Gauteng division of the Pretoria High Court dismissed his request for a declaratory order that the public protector was unfit for the position.
“The public protector considers these to be characteristic of attorney Hoffman SC, who, in 2013, unsuccessfully pursued the prosecution of the Chief Justice for comments the Chief Justice had allegedly made regarding the transformation of the judiciary. This resulted in the filing of a professional misconduct complaint against attorney Hoffman SC with the General Council of the Bar Association.
“Out of respect for the judicial process, the public protector will not comment further on this matter.”
Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu
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