By Karyn Maughan.
In a unanimous ruling, a full bench of the Western Cape High Court dismissed Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s urgent bid for immediate reinstatement to her position.
That same full bench – Judges Lister Nuku, Matthew Francis and James Lekhuleni – last month ruled that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Mkhwebane was unlawful and invalid.
The judges were convinced that Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Mkhwebane – a day after she announced she would investigate an Executive Members Ethics Act complaint against him over the 2020 break-in at his Phala Phala farm – was improper.
The court stated: In our view, the hurried nature of the suspension of [Mkhwebane] in the circumstances, notwithstanding that a judgment of the full court was looming on the same subject matter, leads this court to an ineluctable conclusion that the suspension may have been retaliatory and, hence, unlawful.
After the DA launched an application to appeal that ruling to the Constitutional Court, thereby immediately suspending it, Mkhwebane bought an application for its immediate enforcement – which both the DA and Ramaphosa opposed.
The full bench has now dismissed that application and ordered Mkhwebane to pay nearly all of the DA’s legal costs in the case.
Ramaphosa is also seeking to challenge the invalidation of his decision to suspend Mkhwebane, which he is adamant was the consequence of Parliament alerting him that it had begun its inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
It agreed with both the DA and Ramaphosa that the president’s decision to suspend Mkhwebane had to be referred to the Constitutional Court for confirmation “independent of any steps taken by any of the parties” – and, as such, that the law governing the immediate enforcement of orders “has no application” in this case.
Meanwhile Public protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe has resigned from the position “in order to pursue other interests”.
In a media statement released on Tuesday, the office of the Public Protector SA (PPSA) announced Segalwe’s departure after 13 years of service.
“Public Protector South Africa bids farewell to spokesperson Oupa Segalwe who will be leaving the institution before the end of October 2022, bringing down the curtain on more than 13 years of service,’’ said the office of the PPSA.
“Segalwe, who joined the PPSA in 2009, resigned from his position early this month to pursue other interests, which have remained delayed since 2015. The PPSA thanks Segalwe for his astute communication and interpersonal skills, having served with distinction under the leadership of several public protectors and wishes him well in his future endeavours. Stakeholders will be informed about his successor in due course,’’ said the office of the PPSA.
Segalwe leaves the office while suspended Mkhwebane is facing an impeachment inquiry in parliament to determine her fitness to hold office.