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Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will follow the same path as former President Jacob Zuma, taking her battle to avoid impeachment all the way to the highest court, analysts have said.
The beleaguered defender suffered a devastating loss in her double request to stop a process in parliament to review her fitness for office.
In dismissing his request to ban the procedure to parliament, Judge Vincent Saldanha was harsh in his assessment of his claims of bias by parliament, calling them unfounded.
It also dismissed his request based on his reservations about the courts infringing the role and duties of parliament and the seriousness of the charges against him, set out in the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) main complaint to parliament and which were based on the conclusions of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
Political analyst Professor Mcebisi Ndletyana said Mkhwebane was doing what many of those facing impeachment had done in the past: doing everything he could to delay or block the process.
“The constitution provides for the removal of an unfit Chapter 9 chief, so what is disappointing is the type of case that he is raising, which is something revealing of his character,” he said.
From the beginning of his tenure, arms blazed with demands that all televisions in the building be switched to the now-defunct ANN7, and his rhetoric was replete with political rather than legal or constitutional points.
These were the first signs of a public protector that was less sophisticated than international standards for office holders of her caliber, Ndletyana said.
You can take your case to ConCourt, but it remained to be seen if the second part of your application had a solid foundation, given Saldanha’s comments.
“I suppose anything is possible, but with her, I can’t think about it, unless I raise something different.
“There is no reason to challenge the right of parliament to embark on an impeachment process and there is also the question of its competence, as evidenced by a series of sentences in which it has been roundly denounced and criticized by different courts,” he said.
“These were not just rejections of their findings, they were not simply a matter of interpreting the law differently, but they went straight to the law and its fundamental misunderstanding.”
Meanwhile, he has sympathizers: factions of the ANC and smaller political parties, like the African Transformation Movement (ATM).
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said: “The ATM supported the cause because we truly believed that it was necessary to protect Chapter 9 institutions from possible harassment by parliamentarians when they feel threatened by their actions.
“It is very possible that he will take this to the highest court in the country.”
Rebel activist Melisizwe Mandela has also voiced his support in far-left spaces for Mkhwebane, who he believes, against all odds, was the best public protector the country has ever had.
Parliament has the right to initiate these impeachment proceedings, he said, but not to the district attorney, due to a conflict of interest stemming from Mkhwebane making adverse findings in his investigation of the party.
Speaker of Parliament Thandi Modise also had no standing, she said, because Mkhwebane was currently investigating her.
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