Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday that it wants Parliament to expedite removal proceedings against Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane following a punitive costs order granted against her by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
Mkhwebane on Monday endured a scathing assessment of her report on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) from the ConCourt, which found that she had lied and used false documents to advance her cause.
The ConCourt said Mkhwebane acted in bad faith, her entire model of the investigation was flawed and she was not honest, ordering her to pay the punitive personal costs originally ordered by the High Court.
The DA had already written to the Speaker of Parliament last month to request that Parliament consider whether or not Mhwebane was a fit and proper Public Protector.
John Steenhuisen, DA chief whip, said in a statement that Mkhwebane had done nothing to convince him of her suitability in her almost three years in office.
"Today's [Mondays] court judgment proves that the Public Protector’s failings go much deeper than simple technical errors. Simply put, she is not fit to hold the office she occupies and is in actual fact grossly incompetent," he said.
Steenhuisen said that the DA will, therefore, write to the Speaker to request that our complaint regarding the Public Protector’s fitness to hold office be expedited.
He said the DA will further study the respective judgments and court papers in order to determine whether or not there are grounds for perjury charges to be laid against Mkhwebane.
Mkhwebane had appealed the High Court order that she should, in her personal capacity, pay 15 percent of the SARB's costs on an attorney and client scale, including the cost of three counsel.
After Monday's ruling, the public protector must now pay the costs which stemmed from the SARB's challenge against her report on its role in the apartheid-era bailout of Bankorp investigation.