Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane claims there is a “concerted effort” to render her office “useless.”
She was reacting to a ruling by the Pretoria high court on Monday setting aside her report on the SA Revenue Service (SARS) “rogue unit.”
Findings set aside
In her report, Mkhwebane found that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan had deliberately misled Parliament in 2016 by failing to disclose a meeting he had with members of the Gupta family.
She also found that Gordhan, when he was SARS Commissioner in 2007, had established an intelligence unit “in violation of South African Intelligence Prescripts.”
In a scathing ruling, however, the court set aside these findings, saying they are “without foundation” and “simply wrong” respectively.
It also found that Mkhwebane had displayed “manifest” bias against Gordhan and former SARS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Pillay. The court also imposed a punitive personal cost order against her.
It said, “The Public Protector has in our view not undertaken, as is required by her office, a fair and credible investigation and an open-minded consideration of the extensive body of evidence that was placed before her in order to confirm the truth.
“The report fails at every point. We are satisfied that the report is the product of a wholly irrational process, bereft of any sound legal or factual basis. It cannot stand and must be set aside.”
‘Concerted effort’
Reacting to the ruling, Mkhwebane tweeted, “Advocate Dali Mpofu once said whoever is litigating against [the Public Protector] need not prepare a solid case but must just show up and win.
“It is a concerted effort to render PPSA [Public Protector of SA) useless just to deal with me. Oksalayo [either way] there is evidence supporting our findings. History has not blanks.”
This is the latest in a string of court losses related to her high-profile reports, including the ABSA-Bankorp matter, Estina dairy project matter and her report on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 campaign.
Mkhwebane is also facing a parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office. Last month, she lost her application for leave to appeal a high court ruling that dismissed her bid to halt the inquiry.