Parliament has confirmed that former public protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has become a member of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services.
Mkhwebane was formally assigned her new parliamentary duties by her political party, the EFF.
The announcement was made in the daily parliamentary notices which revealed that Mkhwebane will be deployed to the justice and constitutional development portfolio committee, the very same committee to which Mkhwebane reported to for at least seven years before she was impeached by Parliament a month ago following the Section 194 inquiry which recommended her removal.
After joining the EFF over three weeks ago, Mkhwebane was subsequently sworn in as an EFF MP, replacing Yoliswa Yako as the EFF’s sole MP on the justice committee.
In this position, she will be working side-by-side with MPs from other parties who once grilled her about the performance of the Public Protector’s office.
This includes DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, against whom Mkhwebane still has a pending defamation case.
In what seems to be a very ironic twist of fate, Mkhwebane is set to also serve on the justice committee, which is made up of her erstwhile nemesis and members of the Section 194 inquiry that recommended her impeachment.
Some of these members include, Richard Dyantyi, ANC’s Xola Nqola, ACDP MP Steve Swart, and Al Jama-ah’s Ganief Hendricks.
As the EFF's representative on the justice committee, Mkhwebane will exercise oversight over her former workplace, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Mkhwebane said even as the Public Protector, she was attracted by the EFF due to its central policy propositions, known to many as the cardinal pillars.
I could relate with the seven cardinal pillars of the EFF; as a Public Protector, I always said I will protect the poor and the marginalised. This is giving me an opportunity to continue to do that.”
Even though, Mkhwebane’s rise to parliament as a member of the Red Berets, she indicated that she did not join the EFF for political positions.
“In taking up her EFF membership, Mkhwebane read from the party’s declaration form: “I understand that I am not entitled to any position or deployment. I will participate in the life of the Economic Freedom Fighters to strive towards total emancipation of South Africa, Africa and the oppressed of the world and do so as a loyal, active and disciplined freedom fighter,” she told the media.
The Star