Impeached former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has never been one to afford much respect to the courts.
Her tenure as public protector was one where her disdain for judges was evident because of adverse and completely justifiable rulings against her.
With every court case she lost — and there have been many — she purposefully positioned herself as a victim of some elaborate conspiracy by political detractors to persecute her through the courts.
None of it is true, and she too knows this.
It is, therefore, no surprise that when Mkhwebane lost her appeal related to her impeachment inquiry, she lashed out at Supreme Court of Appeal judge Visvanathan Ponnan, together with a list of people of “Indian descent” whom she labelled as her imaginary persecutors.
The dismissal of her appeal, which the court found was, on merit, “dead on arrival” had the unanimous support of the bench, including judges Caroline Nicholls and Billy Mothle. But, typically, her social media reaction to the dismissal did not engage the merit of the judgement but sought to create a false political narrative to undermine the credibility of the judiciary.
SOWETAN SAYS | Busisiwe Mkhwebane must account for unethical conduct
Image: MOELETSI MABE
Impeached former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has never been one to afford much respect to the courts.
Her tenure as public protector was one where her disdain for judges was evident because of adverse and completely justifiable rulings against her.
With every court case she lost — and there have been many — she purposefully positioned herself as a victim of some elaborate conspiracy by political detractors to persecute her through the courts.
None of it is true, and she too knows this.
It is, therefore, no surprise that when Mkhwebane lost her appeal related to her impeachment inquiry, she lashed out at Supreme Court of Appeal judge Visvanathan Ponnan, together with a list of people of “Indian descent” whom she labelled as her imaginary persecutors.
The dismissal of her appeal, which the court found was, on merit, “dead on arrival” had the unanimous support of the bench, including judges Caroline Nicholls and Billy Mothle. But, typically, her social media reaction to the dismissal did not engage the merit of the judgement but sought to create a false political narrative to undermine the credibility of the judiciary.
Rightly, she has been condemned by the judiciary, which said in a statement that such unfounded and racially charged comments against judges will not be tolerated. Parliament has also condemned her attack on its staff and legal advisers who were involved in her impeachment inquiry.
Still, we must not lose sight of the fact that Mkhwebane is not only an advocate of the high court, she is — on an EFF ticket — an MP who also sits on the committee on justice.
She is bound by its code of ethics, and she has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the judiciary and our constitution. Her conduct is not only harmful to the people against whom she made unfounded claims; it also undermines the integrity of judges without any facts to justify such attacks.
For this, we support calls for Mkhwebane to be probed by parliament’s ethics committee so she can account for conduct that is unacceptable for a public representative.
SA must not tolerate MPs who peddle falsehoods for convenience to undermine public institutions of accountability.
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