By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Parliament has rebuked the impeached former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane for impugning the dignity of two of its legal advisors.
Mkhwebane singled out the late former public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, the evidence leader in her impeachment inquiry; Cape Town advocate Nazreen Bawa; parliament’s chief legal adviser, advocate Zuraya Adhikarie; and parliamentary legal adviser Fatima Ebrahim.
In a post on X, Mkhwebane attributed her legal woes in the country’s courts to proceedings predominantly involving judges and lawyers of Indian descent.
Mkhwebane included Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judge Visvanathan Ponnan in her attack on judicial officers of Indian descent, following Tuesday’s dismissal by the court of her application to appeal against a 2022 Western Cape High Court ruling related to her impeachment inquiry.
The dismissal had the unanimous support of the bench, which included Caroline Nicholls, Billy Mothle and acting justices Mokgere Masipa and Evette Dippenaar.
Ponnan said the application was “dead on arrival” and Mkhwebane said the judge was arrogant and dismissive. This underscored the challenges and biases she’s faced primarily by those of Indian heritage, she said.
Parliament “dismissed with dismay” Mkhwebane’s statements, which sought to impugn the integrity of parliament’s staff members as well as the evidence leader of the section 194 committee that deliberated on whether Mkhwebane should be impeached.
“There is no merit to the attack levelled against these legal advisers, who have served parliament with diligence and integrity over the years,” the parliament statement read.
The unwarranted attack on these officials, along with the racial slurs used by Mkhwebane, is particularly regrettable in a democratic society such as ours, where human dignity should be protected and respected.
“As an MP and a public representative who owes allegiance to our constitution, advocate Mkhwebane has a responsibility to uphold and protect the values enshrined in the constitution, which are the cornerstone of our democracy, “parliament said in the statement.
Mkhwebane has appropriately sought the court’s intervention to express her dissatisfaction with the outcome of the section 194 committee, and the court has now struck the matter from the roll.”
Mkhwebane was impeached in September 2023 when 318 members of the National Assembly voted for her removal after an extensive investigation and hours of testimony into claims of misconduct and incompetence.