Cape Town – “Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has again proven that she is not fit for office and that she is in fact politically compromised.”
This is the view of the DA after Mkhwebane released a report on Wednesday in which she exonerated ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule for failing to reply honestly and adequately to questions posed by the DA in the Free State legislature during his time as premier. The party accused her of ’’continuing to do the bidding of Ace Magashule and his fellow rogues“.
The DA's leader in the Free State, Roy Jankielson, had laid the complaints against Magashule.
The first is regarding the 2013 funeral arrangements of late Free State Health MEC Fundiswa Ngubentoni. Jankelson alleged Magashule had lied about instructing the Fezile Dabi district municipality to cover the costs.
Mkhwebane also cleared Magashule of wrongdoing over a report by the Treasury in 2015 on the appointment of a communications company.
Previously, she published a “whitewashed report” into the Vrede Dairy Project which failed to make any findings against Magashule and Mosebenzi Zwane, the DA said in a statement on Thursday.
’’While the Public Protector swears high and low that she is not politically compromised, her continuously turning a blind eye to the transgressions and wrongdoing of Ace Magashule is telling.
’’If Mkhwebane is truly independent as she claims, she would freely subject herself to any process which seek to hold her to account. But instead, she chooses to discredit these legitimate processes,“ the DA said.
Mkhwebane has launched an urgent application with the Western Cape High Court in order to interdict Parliament’s inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
“The DA views this application by the Public Protector as frivolous and a complete waste of taxpayer money.
’’She is attempting to frustrate a legitimate and legally sound parliamentary process to hold her to account in order to seemingly continue to do the bidding of Ace Magashule and his fellow rogues,“ the DA said.
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