Johannesburg - The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has called for Parliament to urgently expedite the vote to remove Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane from office.
The foundation has written to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise calling on her to initiate an expedited vote in the National Assembly on the removal of Mkhwebane from office.
"Our call follows the handing down of the recent judgment of the Constitutional Court in Public Protector v South African Reserve Bank," HSF executive director Francis Antonie said in a statement.
In its judgment, the court confirmed the punitive costs order awarded by the High Court against Mkhwebane personally. This judgment, along with other damning High Court judgments, illustrated the ways in which Mkhwebane had been found to “lack integrity”, “competence”, “honesty”, and “independence”.
"These judgments all point to the indisputable conclusion that Ms Mkhwebane is not fit and proper to hold office as the public protector," he said.
Given the importance of the office she held, the immense power vested in the office, and the public trust reposed in the office, each day that Mkhwebane remained in office was damaging to the integrity of the office.
"We thus call on the speaker and the National Assembly to take heed of the accumulated adverse judicial findings against the public protector and to act swiftly and definitively in removing her from office as the public protector," Antonie said.