Mkhwebane responds to social media critics of her performance by posting her own review

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane at Parliament. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane at Parliament. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jul 18, 2023

Share

Cape Town - Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has posted a review of her own performance in office on her Twitter profile as the clock ticks towards the end of her term in October.

Mkhwebane took to Twitter to respond to criticism of her performance as Public Protector on the social media platform.

She posted a pie chart from the PPSA which showed her results from her appointment in October 2016 to February 2022. The pie chart showed of the 60962 cases under her watch, 58 964 had been finalised.

Mkhwebane tweeted: “The office under my leadership received two clean audits and improved performance by February 2022, first of its kind since the office was established in 1995.

“By that time only 17 reports were set aside out of 412 reports issued.”

In a direct response to a tweet which accused her of failing because out of 26 reviewed cases she was only able to successfully defend only nine, Mkhwebane said: “Winning cases in court is not part of PP deliverables, and reviews are part of the legal system, same applies (in the case of) judges cases (which are) set aside at (the) SCA.”

Mkhwebane previously testified at the Section 194 committee that the number of reports issued under her watch showed the institution was not only investigating the president and ministers.

Despite her being suspended, the Office of the Public Protector, PPSA, obtained a clean audit report for the third year in a row from Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke for the 2021-22 financial year.

Mkhwebane took office in 2016 and was suspended by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June last year, 15 months before the end of her term.

Meanwhile, the ad hoc committee to nominate a person for appointment as public protector has issued a reminder to all stakeholders and interested parties to comment on the suitability of candidates for the position of public protector by Friday.

Comments can be sent to pprotector@parliament.gov.za by no later than July 21. And the redacted CVs of candidates can be viewed on the parliamentary website: https://tinyurl.com/5n6zkpa6.

mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za

Cape Argus