The Parliamentary committee that is probing suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has decided to go ahead with the drafting of the report after a bid to stop proceedings failed.
Chairperson of the inquiry Qubudile Dyantyi said the committee will continue with its work after parliamentarians said the three letters tabled before them should not be used to stop the work of finalising the report.
The committee discussed three letters regarding objections to continue with the process, pending the finalisation of those issues.
Dyantyi and other members said on Friday there was no basis for them to stop while addressing the letters.
Members of the section 194 committee said they reject the letter from former ANC official in the Western Cape Winston Erasmus who wanted Dyantyi to recuse himself on a number of allegations. One of the allegations by Erasmus was that he had served in different roles in the Western Cape in support of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Members of the ANC, DA and ACDP said the letter does not belong to the section 194 committee, but to another platform.
The attorneys of Mkhwebane have also pulled out of the process, and the committee said that does not affect their work at this stage because they are drafting the report.
They will send her a report once it was finalised and she can get senior counsel to respond to the report as she was given money to secure lawyers.
ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude said the committee must continue with its work of finalising the draft report.
She said issues raised by Erasmus did not belong to the committee and the events he was talking about happened in 2019.
ANC MP Xola Nqola said the issue of legal representation was now used as a weapon to try and halt the process.
“Today’s meeting is a committee meeting to finalise the draft report and the public protector will respond to the report,” said Nqola.
DA MP Annelie Lotriet said they have been working on the matter for more than a year now.
She said Mkhwebane had been given several opportunities to sort out her issues.
She said the committee was now finalising the report.
EFF MP Omphile Maotwe said Mkhwebane does not have attorneys after her lawyers withdrew their services. She must be given time to resolve this issue.
She said the process cannot be rushed by the committee. Mkhwebane must find attorneys of her choice to represent her and not the State Attorney, said Maotwe.
Dyantyi said most of the members of the committee agreed that that the committee must conclude its work.
“Mr Erasmus’ reconsideration letter is rejected, that there is no basis, it does not belong here, it’s irrelevant. There is another platform. He needs to look into another address to take his letter. On the issues of legal representation and the withdrawal of that, members have been very clear that the onus is not on the committee, the onus remains with the public protector to ensure she briefs the senior counsel to be ready to assist in response to the draft report that we are going to get to next,” said Dyantyi.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics