Johannesburg - Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has told the Western Cape High Court the rules that have been adopted to grant Parliament powers to remove heads of Chapter 9 institutions will cause irreparable harm to the institutions and her professional career.
She had approached the court to block Parliament to remove her from office.
“In dealing with irreparable harm, the court has to counterbalance the harm to be suffered by the applicant (Mkhwebane) if the interim interdict is not granted,” she stated in the papers.
She accused the DA, which had tabled a motion of no confidence against her, of spreading a false narrative against her.
“The approval of the motion itself is problematic for me as it feeds to this fable narrative, which malign me as being incompetant and dishonest,” she said.
She said she was concerned that if the motion was carried out it would impact on her professional career, reputation and personal circumstances.
She has also told the court that she feared that President Cyril Ramaphosa, “who had a conflict of interest”, would not hesitate to suspend her as soon he heard that parliament had approved the motion.
“I have made adverse findings against him (Ramaphosa).
“It is apposite to mention that I made such adverse findings against President Ramaphosa in the (Bosasa) matter.
“As soon as the speaker of Parliament (Thandi Modise) informs him that she had accepted the motion and request of the DA then I reasonably fear that the President may have a perverse interest in removing me,” she said.
Mkhwebane’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe dispelled allegations that she was wasting the budget of her office through litigation.
He said his boss had been forced to defend herself when her findings were being taken to court for review. He said the Western Cape High Court matter was the only one that had been initiated by her.
“For her it's about getting clarity on the law so that where there are ambiguities, they are explained so that everyone goes forward,” said Segalwe.