Mkhwebane on why they want her OUT: ‘I have a lot of information’

Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane is the subject of an impeachment process led by Parliament, but she is fighting the bid

Mkhwebane files court interdict to stop her removal

South Africa's Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane speaks to journalists during a press briefing where she released reports on various investigations on June 19, 2017 in Pretoria. - South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog has launched an investigation into several allies of President Jacob Zuma allegedly linked to corruption at three state-owned companies, based on a trove of recently leaked emails. South Africa's Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she would probe alleged "improper or dishonest" acts and "unlawful enrichment... by certain public officials" at rail company Prasa, power company Eskom and the Transnet freight logistics conglomerate. - Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP

Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane reckons the reason there is a massive campaign to get her out of office, is because she is in possession of some pretty confidential information on people.

Mkhwebane is the subject of an impeachment process led by Parliament and recently approached the courts to prevent President Cyril Ramaphosa from suspending her.

Mkhwebane maintains that Ramaphosa cannot suspend her as he features prominently in some of her investigations, which means he is conflicted. The president has agreed to put that suspension on hold, pending the court’s decision on her latest bid.

YOU CAN ALSO READ: Ramaphosa on Mkhwebane’s probes into him: ‘She has to do her work’

THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR ON HER IMPEACHMENT PROCESS

The initial bid to kick-start Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s impeachment was led by the DA and received the support of the ANC, something which the public protector finds strange because the two parties are hardly ever in agreement in Parliament.

When asked on eNCA what she suspected was the motivation behind the bid to remove her, Mkhwebane said: “I think I have a lot of information and I have touched the wrong nerve… I’m doing my work actually, because I’m leading my team to investigate all these matters. The buck stops with me, I wouldn’t blame my team because at any rate, I’m the one doing the work”

Experts who have weighed in on the matter reckon Ramaphosa is well within his rights to suspend her, despite Mkhwebane’s argument. Should the bid be successful, she would be the first head of a chapter nine institution to be impeached.

Here’s a recap: Former National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise had roped in a three-member panel to determine if there were merits to the lack of faith MPs have expressed in the public protector. Modise appointed Justice Bess Nkabinde as chairperson of the panel along with Advocates Dumisa Ntsebeza and Johan De Waal – they found that there was prima facie evidence of incompetence and misconduct on Mkhwebane’s part. This is what paved the way for the probe into her fitness for office.

YOU CAN ALSO READ: ‘Long overdue’: OUTA on Mkhwebane’s possible impeachment