Intervene in ‘unprecedented attack’ on me, Mkhwebane asks Concourt

The Office of the Public Protector believes it is facing an “unprecedented attack” from “very powerful” members of the national executive, including its head – President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane wrote in her application for direct access to the Constitutional Court: “If this honourable court does not intervene urgently, the constitutional basis on which the public protector was established would be severely undermined.

“The constitutional role of the public protector is at stake. The possibility that powerful government functionaries may refuse to implement the remedial action of the public protector has concerning consequences for constitutional democracy itself.”

The office’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said Mkhwebane was appealing the orders because she believed they were granted erroneously.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with the minister. Instead, it’s about the legal principles which she believes the court got wrong,” Segalwe said. “Appealing a decision is not a fight but a quest to assist the court with the public protector’s side of the story as it sets out to interpret and develop the law. The decision to appeal or defend any matter is not taken haphazardly.”

Segalwe said Mkhwebane looked at the likeliest impact of the judgment on the ability of the office to discharge its mandate.

“Each matter is dealt with [on] its own merits. Therefore, what applies in one case will not necessarily apply in another,” Segalwe said.

It was Mkhwebane’s submission to High Court in Pretoria Judge Sulet Potterill’s scathing order suspending her remedial action, which ordered Ramaphosa take disciplinary action against Minister Pravin Gordhan over the debunked SA Revenue Service “rogue unit”.

“Should the order not be set aside, it will create unbearable conditions for the effective functioning of the public protector,” Mkhwebane said.

The office went on to say the orders had rendered the public protector’s work “ineffective,” Mkhwebane said.

It is understood the Economic Freedom Fighters has also submitted papers in defence of Mkhwebane.

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