THE National Assembly has resolved to impeach Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
A whopping 318 MPs (79.5%) voted in support of her removal, with only 43 parliamentarians voting against the Section 194 committee report, which recently found Mkhwebane unfit to hold office.
Only one MP, COPE’s Mosiuoa Lekota, abstained from the parliamentary debate that took place at Cape Town City Hall following a roll call at 2pm on Monday.
Her removal has made Mkhwebane the first public protector to be removed from a Chapter 9 institution.
Ahead of the National Assembly debate, the writing was already on the wall that suspended Mkhwebane would be recalled by the majority members of Parliament after the ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA), the IFP and Freedom Front Plus voted in favour of the Section 194 committee report, which recommended that Mkhwebane be removed from her office.
ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina, who was accused by Mkhwebane’s husband, David Skosana, of soliciting a bribe, along with the chairperson of the Section 194 Committee, Richard Dyantyi, and former ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said every member of the ANC had been told to toe the party line in a bid to see the removal of Mkhwebane from her position.
“Every member of every party toes the party line, and all the members of the ANC are going to toe the party line, and if they don’t, we are going to process them accordingly,” she said.
Only the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), United Democratic Movement (UDM), and African Transformation Movement (ATM) voted against the adoption of the Section 194 report, recommending advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane be removed as the public protector, and the party is not afraid to part ways with that person(s).
According to the leader of the Black First Land First (BLF), Andile Mngxitama, Mkhwebane became enemy number one after she ruled that Absa must pay back the money stolen from the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) during the end of official apartheid.
“What made things worse was her investigation of Phala Phala after ruling that Ramaphosa got R1 billion for the CR17 project,” he said.
The EFF, which opposed Mkhwebane’s impeachment alongside the UDM and the ATM, said the decision to remove the public protector is a gross undermining of the country’s democracy.
“This decision is a gross undermining of our democracy in that it seeks to intimidate all Chapter 9 institutions and investigative authorities who investigate those in power, to show them that should they investigate those in power without bias, they will be punitively removed.
“The EFF continues to be appalled by the treatment of the public protector, and from the outset, the EFF has steadfastly asserted that the relentless pursuit of Mkhwebane is fundamentally driven by her commitment to probe President Cyril Ramaphosa at Phala Phala Farm,” said EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo following the voting in the National Assembly.
UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa slammed the process that found Mkhwebane unfit to hold office, saying Mkhwebane was being persecuted for some of her investigations against corporate companies.
“In 2019, Mkhwebane committed the cardinal sin of doing her job too well. She wrote a report on an investigation into allegations of a violation of the executive ethics code through an improper relationship between the president and African Global Operations, formerly known as Bosasa. The ANC and the DA have laid a charge against her for doing this,” Holomisa said.
DA MP Siviwe Gwarube celebrated Mkhwebane’s removal, saying it must serve as a lesson to the institution on the importance of selecting fit-for-purpose candidates at all times.
“Today was not just a vote to remove the first head of a Chapter 9 institution but a confirmation of the DA’s relentless commitment to the rule of law and accountability,” Gwarube said.
Image (Impeached PP Busisiwe Mkhwebane).
