On Monday, December 24, The Star published a story with the headline, “CR plotting PP’s arrest”, after receiving information that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was facing arrest for an allegation of perjury. A Star investigation uncovered Mkhwebane was last week requested to submit a statement at the Hillbrow police station in Joburg.
The statement would act as an admission of guilt in a plot to have her arrested before she delivered a report in which President Cyril Ramaphosa was being investigated for approving the ANC’s controversial trip to Zimbabwe on a defence force aircraft.
On the very same day, Ramaphosa took to social media to deny any involvement in a plan to remove Mkhwebane, saying “he is firmly committed to the rule of law and due process and has never and will never interfere in any criminal investigation or other legal process”.
The Star is, however, aware that is not the case. At 8.30am on Sunday, The Star sent questions to the president’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale and the public protector’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe. Only Segalwe responded to questions. The president has still not responded but has sought to tweet, distancing himself from the story. While it is important for the president to answer the questions, it’s also imperative for him to not single out The Star.
It is worth noting that The Star is not the only publication that ran the story. On Sunday evening, the City Press ran a similar story with the headline, “Mkhwebane fears perjury charge”.
A source at the Hillbrow SAPS has revealed to Independent Media that on Tuesday, someone from Ramaphosa’s office made a WhatsApp call to a police officer at the station asking why Mkhwebane was not arrested yet.
Ramaphosa was believed to be behind the move to have her charged.
In a document received from the source, the national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, Godfrey S Lebeya instructed Mkhwebane to provide a warning statement to Colonel SJ Mojela. The individual from the president’s office sought to put pressure on the police to arrest Mkhwebane before January 13.
The plan to arrest Mkhwebane dates back to June when the Hawks first demanded a warning statement from her for the allegation of perjury and defeating the ends of justice.
The case against the public protector was laid by advocate Paul Hoffman in August. Hoffman heads a non-governmental organisation, Accountability Now.
The matter against Mkhwebane is pegged on her investigation of the 1991 Absa bailout.
It’s time the president was honest with the nation.
The Star