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Busisiwe Mkhwebane will appear in court Thursday morning on charges of perjury.
ARCHIVE: Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. Photo: Abigail Javier / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – Eyewitness news he learned Wednesday that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will appear in court on a charge of perjury.
Eyewitness news has seen a subpoena citing Mkhwebane as a defendant following a complaint from Accountability Now director Paul Hoffman. Hoffman’s complaint wanted Mkhwebane to be criminally charged with perjury. This is the first time a Chapter 9 institution director will face a criminal charge.
She is due to appear in Pretoria Magistrates Court on Thursday morning and must appear in person. Hoffman said Wednesday that, to the best of his knowledge, the case set for Thursday was moving forward.
In July 2019, the Constitutional Court upheld a High Court ruling that Mkhwebane was dishonest in her investigation into the apartheid-era loan from the Reserve Bank of South Africa (Sarb) to Absa in the 1980s.
A month ago, the director of public prosecution (DPP) made the decision to prosecute Mkhwebane after evaluating all the evidence gathered by the Hawks.
“The NPA wishes to confirm that the DPP did in fact make the decision to prosecute after carefully evaluating the evidence presented by the Hawks. This is in line with prosecution policy and the law,” the NPA said in a statement.
Hoffman said the complaint dates back to 2017.
The public protector lost a request for authorization to appeal a Superior Court order in February 2018 that she personally covered 15% of Sarb’s legal costs in the case.
READ: Sarb-Absa Report: 5 Findings ConCourt Made Against Mkhwebane
A full bank of the High Court set aside its controversial report and corrective action, which ordered the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to recover more than R1 billion from Absa for the apartheid-era rescue.
“We are satisfied that the report is the product of a totally irrational process, devoid of any solid legal or factual basis,” said Gordhan’s attorney, Tebogo Malatji. “And this is what we have been saying all along.”
In November, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, announced a three-member panel that will decide whether or not Mkhwebane has a case to answer in Parliament.
The panel consists of Judge Bess Nkabinde, attorney Dumisa Ntsebeza SC and attorney Johan De Waal SC to study the possibility of initiating an investigation into Mkhwebane’s fitness for office.
READ: Modise Announces 3-Member Panel To Decide On Mkhwebane’s Fate As Public Protector
In early December, the independent panel was granted an extension to carry out its work.
The panel requested that the 30-day period prescribed in the rules for conducting the investigation be extended to 90 days, starting on November 25, and has already held its first meeting.
This means that the first two months of 2021 will be critical to Mkhwebane’s survival, as the panel receives and considers submissions during its investigation.
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