The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has set its eyes on Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
According to Hawks head Seswantsho Lebeya, the directorate has begun investigations into Mkhwebane after civil society organisation Accountability Now laid charges against her.
Accountability Now’s director Paul Hoffman told SABC News on Monday that it had laid criminal charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice on Mkhwebane.
He said at the time that the matter was with the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Speaking to EWN on Wednesday, Lebeya confirmed that the Hawks are now seized with the matter.
Lebeya was speaking on the sidelines of a conference organised by the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators.
Accountability Now based its complaint on the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court on the Absa-Reserve Bank matter.
Mkhwebane’s report on the matter was set aside as unconstitutional by the high court in February 2018.
The Public Protector appealed a personal costs order against Mkhwebane, but the Constitutional Court upheld it in a scathing ruling.
The Court found that Mkhwebane had made misrepresentations under oath and acted in bad faith.
It also ruled that she had failed to adequately explain her “secret” meetings with former President Jacob Zuma and the State Security Agency during her investigation.
Mkhwebane has maintained that she never lied under oath.