Johannesburg – Political parties have once again raised concerns about Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office following the latest damning court ruling against her.
The Constitutional Court has dismissed her bid to overturn the invalidation of her CR17 campaign report.
In a scathing judgment, the ConCourt found that Mkhwebane’s findings against President Cyril Ramaphosa and his son were not backed by any facts.
Justice Chris Jafta said the court found that there was no evidence to support Mkhwebane’s conclusions that there was money laundering during the CR17 campaign, and that Ramaphosa and his son personally benefitted.
Mmusi Maimane of One South Africa was the first person to ask the president about the campaign while still leader of the opposition in Parliament, said there were key lessons to be learned from Thursday’s judgment.
“I stood and said we cannot be led by this Public Protector. That institution of government cannot in any way be seen to be impartial, we must capacitate better institutions that fight corruption. The Public Protector being one, the SIU and the NPA also. They must be capacitated such that we can fight corruption,” said Maimane.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa of the IFP said the court judgment signaled that a skills assessment may be required at the Office of the Public Protector.
Meanwhile, the ANC and the Presidency had welcomed the Constitutional Court’s judgment.
