Johannesburg - A defiant Public Protector Busi Mkhwebane on Wednesday insisted that she would be in office until the end of her term in office in 2023 despite moves by the DA to have her removed from the Chapter 9 institution.
In a wide-ranging interview on Johannesburg-based talk radio station Power FM, Mkhwebane said she was not going anywhere.
”I’m not going anywhere; I’m here to serve South Africans until 2023. I will stay until 2023,” she told Power FM anchor Aldrin Sampear.
Mkhwebane has been under fire since the DA announced that it had written to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise to initiate a parliamentary motion to have her removed from office, citing several adverse findings against her including a personal costs order that was confirmed by a unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court.
The apex court found that Mkhwebane had acted in bad faith and was dishonest during her investigation into the Absa-Bankorp lifeboat from the Reserve Bank, which was initially investigated by CIEX, asset recovery agency set up by former top British spy Michael Oatley.
The official opposition announced last month that it had submitted over 7 000 pages of evidence to support its bid to have Mkhwebane ousted.
However, Mkhwebane said her troubles started when she released the report on the investigation into the lifeboat in June 2017.
“My problems started when I issued the CIEX report, I touched the untouchable,” she maintained.
According to Mkhwebane, even the DA is also citing the CIEX investigation in its motion to remove her.
Mkhwebane is challenging Modise’s decision to approve the DA’s motion to remove her at the Western Cape High Court.
Modise has given political parties represented in Parliament until Friday to nominate suitable persons to serve on an external panel of experts to conduct a preliminary assessment of the motion.
Mkhwebane said she respected the Concourt’s judgment but still feels she was not dishonest.