Section 194 committee finds Mkhwebane guilty on four charges of ...
Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
After months of stalling and missed deadlines, the Section 194 committee probing suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found her guilty on Sunday of all four charges of misconduct and incompetence.
The committee is now one step closer to concluding its work.
Mkhwebane was found guilty of misconduct in connection with the SARB/CIEX, Vrede, SARS unit, and Bosasa/CR17 matters. She was also found guilty of misconduct and incompetence relating to the victimisation of staff in her office.
In an unusual move for Parliament, the committee met on Sunday to finalise its findings for a draft report. Chairperson of the committee, Qubudile Dyantyi, commended the committee members for their dedication.
They now have to compile the draft report, which Mkhwebane will be allowed to comment on before a final report is adopted by the National Assembly.
Dyantyi said the committee should produce a "quality report."
He added:
The report has got to be very precise on the issues within our mandate as well as the motion… So basically, after today, budget for additional three meetings to close shop properly, but they will not be as heavy as this one.
Last week, Dyantyi refused Mkhwebane's second application for his recusal. She wanted her husband, David Skosana, and sister to testify about WhatsApp messages purportedly sent between Skosana and late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson as well as recordings of meetings they allegedly had.
She wanted them to do so after allegations from Skosana that Joemat-Petterson had asked for a bribe from him on behalf of Dyantyi and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina to make the Section 194 committee go away.
During the Section 194 proceedings, Mkhwebane has not only asked for Dyantyi to recuse himself. She sought the recusal of the evidence leaders and DA's Kevin Mileham on the basis of alleged bias.
Other delays were related to Mkhwebane's legal representation woes.
READ | 'Blatant misconduct': Committee wants Mkhwebane to account for IGI report, wasteful expenditure
After Mkhwebane appeared before the committee without legal representation on several occasions, the committee resolved unanimously on 9 June that it would change its process and send written questions to her. If she failed to answer those, it would consider the evidence before it. Mkhwebane ignored the deadlines.
On Sunday, Dyantyi acknowledged that the committee had worked under "difficult circumstances".
"You have done the difficult work, you have sacrificed, you have maintained the discipline [and] today, every time I checked, we would have maintained quorum throughout the day on a Sunday having started at 09:00."
Dyantyi added:
[You have been] truly committed to your course of the oath you have taken as parliamentarians and the work that you have done under very difficult circumstances and conditions. But [I want] to encourage members to indicate that we are almost there in terms of our work.
A two-thirds majority is required to remove Mkhwebane from office.Her term ends on 14 October. She will receive a gratuity of around R10 million if she is still in office.
