Cape Town - Parliament’s Section 194 inquiry into the fitness for office of suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has missed its scheduled May 29 deadline to finish its work, and in the meantime a three-month process to nominate a new public protector has begun.
Mkhwebane’s non-renewable seven-year term expires on October 14, and to prepare for this Parliament is in the process of establishing an ad hoc committee to appoint her successor.
Once formed, the committee is expected to call for nominations from the public and organisations. The next step will be the compilation of a shortlist from the nominations, and another invitation to the public to comment on short-listed candidates who will then be subjected to a vetting process before taking part in public interviews.
Parliament wants to have a candidate nominated by August 31, and if two-thirds of MPs approve the eventual nominee’s name, it will be sent to the president for appointment.
Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is meanwhile keeping a close eye on the inquiry and has asked committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi for an urgent written update.
At a meeting of Parliament’s programming committee, House chairperson Cedric Frolick (ANC) said: “The process must now reach finality.”
A revised draft programme of the committee issued in March had planned it would table its final report in Parliament on Monday.
ANC Deputy Chief Whip Doris Dlakude told the committee that the solicitor-general had appointed a new firm of attorneys to represent Mkhwebane at the inquiry, and she would be retaining senior counsel Dali Mpofu.
Mkhwebane has meanwhile been told by the Speaker to formally lodge a complaint with the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests regarding her allegations of corruption related to the inquiry. Mkhwebane has alleged that Pemmy Majodina and former minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson had tried to extort money from her.
Both have denied the allegations.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the procedure for referring matters for investigation in Parliament was clearly outlined in the Code of Ethical Conduct, and as such she and Mkhwebane did not need to meet to discuss it.
