By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Legal Practice Council of South Africa (LPC) is seeking former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to be struck off the roll of advocates in South Africa.
According to News24, the council has already confirmed that it will make a court application to that effect.
The Legal Practice Council is a national, statutory body established in terms of Section 4 of the Legal Practice Act of 2014 and is “mandated to regulate the professional conduct of legal practitioners to ensure accountability”, according to its website.
This includes the objective to “determine, enhance and maintain appropriate standards of professional practice and ethical conduct of all legal practitioners and all candidate legal practitioners” and enhance and maintain the integrity and status of the legal profession.
Mkhwebane’s CV to Parliament lists her as an advocate of the High Court and having obtained B. Proc and LLB degrees from the University of the North (Currently the University of Limpopo).
The LPC’s move to have Mkhwebane struck off the roll of advocates is not unprecedented. In July 2019, a complaint was lodged against her, for lying under oath.
This follows a Constitutional Court judgment which found she had acted in bad faith and put forward a “number of falsehoods” in the Absa/Bankorp case.
Subsequently, in March 2020, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria dismissed an application seeking a declaratory order that Mkhwebane was unfit to hold office.
“There are serious, final and unappealable findings reflecting on the honesty, integrity and competence of the Public Protector, who is a duly admitted advocate of the High Court,” Adv Paul Hoffman, a director at Accountability Now, said in the letter to the Legal Practice Council.
“Kindly confirm that the Council is looking into the matter with a view to bringing an application for the striking off the roll of advocates of Ms Mkhwebane as part of its legislated disciplinary functions. We have copied her on this email,” Hoffman wrote.
Mkhwebane’s tenure as Public Protector ended in September 2023 when she became the first head of a Chapter 9 institution in South Africa to be removed through impeachment. Following her impeachment, she served as a Member of the National Assembly from October 2023 to October 2024, representing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Towards end of 2024, Mkhwebane joined the MK Party, a political party associated with former President Jacob Zuma, as the Provincial Convenor for Mpumalanga. Her appointment was contested, leading to divisions within the party, led by Mkhwebane and businesswoman Mary Phadi, both claimed leadership of the province.