Public Protector to oppose Zuma over state capture review – for now
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has announced that the she is seeking legal council on how to proceed with challenging president Jacob Zuma’s review of the state capture report, while also stating her intention to take legal action against the DA over claims from the party that she is a spy.
Mkhwebane was speaking to the media on her first 100 days as the Public Protector, listing the challenges and accomplishments she has faced so far.
Mkhwebane admitted that the past few months had been rocky and tricky to navigate, but said it wasn’t entirely unexpected. What was unexpected, she said, was that she would have to work to hard against defending her independence and fighting back against ‘untruths’.
The PP said that her office still faces big challenges, specifically being one of the most underfunded institutions in the country, when considering its mandate and scope. For the current financial year, her office has only been allocated R263.3 million, Mkhwebane said.
Mkhwebane said that her office has had to deal with various cases of litigation in the first 100 days, but the most prominent case was that of president Jacob Zuma’s court application to have the so-called state capture report reviewed and set aside.
She said that she has filed a notice to oppose the review – but this was only “in order to comply with court rules”.
“In the notice, I clearly indicated that I will consider my position once I have been advised by senior counsel and the legalities of the basis of the application,” she said.
“It must be noted that this is a complex matter and no precedent exists in South African law on how to approach it. I expect a comprehensive legal opinion in the second week of this month (February).”
DA spy claims
Mkhwebane also announced that she would be tackling cases of a more personal nature, saying that she was considering taking legal action against the DA for calling her a spy.
In September 2016, before Mkhwebane took office as Public Protector, the DA was on the offensive against her appointment, citing “reliable information from various sources” that the incoming PP was a spy with the State Security Agency, and was close to president Zuma.
The DA raised the concern, saying that Mkhwebane failed to disclose these relationships during her interview for the role.
The Public Protector has taken exception to this, and is considering her legal options. She also criticised the media for its role in pushing falsehoods about her, and for publishing leaked reports – most notably the recent Absa report.
Mkhwebane said that the parties implicated had until 28 February to respond to the draft report, and the widespread publishing of details within the report almost jeopardized the entire investigation.
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