Busisiwe Mkhwebane to suspend remedial action against Ipid appointment

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will suspend remedial action against the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's [Ipid] appointment of Theresa Botha as deputy director, pending the directorate's review application.

“It is indeed the office of the Public Protector's standard practice not to oppose interim orders suspending the implementation of its remedial action, pending review applications of its reports,” Mkhwebane's office said in a statement.

The office said it agreed the remedial action set out in her report be suspended, pending the final determination of the review application.

Ipid officials have approached the Pretoria high court to challenge Mkhwebane's report regarding Botha's appointment.

The report, according to an application filed by former Ipid executive director Robert McBride and seven others, is “riddled with flagrant factual inaccuracies, illogical conclusions and errors of law”.

SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE reported that the application was launched to set aside the report by Mkhwebane, released on September 16, in which she found that Ipid irregularly appointed Botha.

“Mkhwebane found that Ipid had engaged in procurement irregularities and maladministration when irregularly appointing Botha as a deputy director of its national specialised investigation team in 2017,” the report said.