By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Western Cape High Court dismissed suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application to set aside Section 194 Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi’s decision not to recuse himself.
The committee is a parliamentary committee conducting an impeachment inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness for office.
Mkhwebane had approached the high court to set aside Dyantyi’s decision not to recuse himself from the inquiry as well as Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Kevin Mileham.
Mkhwebane claimed that Dyantyi had been biased against her and Mileham was conflicted from taking part in the proceedings because his wife, DA MP Natasha Mazzone, had brought the motion for the inquiry to be established into her fitness to hold office.
The inquiry has since stalled after almost nine months, over funds for legal fees having been depleted.
However, the full bench of the high court dismissed her application. It issued a punitive costs order against the suspended public protector. However, she must pay Dyantyi and the DA’s legal costs.
In a judgment handed down on Thursday, Justices Allie, Savage and Cloete said they did not believe it was fitting to intervene in ongoing parliamentary proceedings.
The court further ruled that Mkhwebane had “not shown the existence of grave injustice or that any harm which have been suffered by her will be material and irreversible if the committee is permitted to proceed with its task.”
The court found it was not necessary for it to determine whether the test for bias has been made out against Dyantyi and Mileham, or whether the issues Mkhwebane complained about had merit.
Mkhwebane is currently without legal representation before the committee, as the Office of the Public Protector indicated it could not continue to fund her legal bill, which burgeoned to R26 million, beyond 31 March.