The Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that it was a rational decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane last year.
Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane in June 2022 after she sent him questions to answer on the Phala Phala scandal, following a period of asking her to make representation on why she should not be suspended.
She took her suspension to the Western Cape High Court, which ruled in September 2022 that Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend her was invalid and improper, but the order was subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court.
However, Ramaphosa and the DA appealed against the decision directly to the apex court. In a unanimous judgment penned by Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, the highest court in the land set aside the Western Cape High Court’s decision.
“There was a rational reason for the precautionary suspension,” Justice Maya said. The court said the fact that Mkhwebane was investigating Ramaphosa was not enough to say there was a conflict of interest in him suspending her. It also said the suspension did not have any benefit for Ramaphosa and there was no evidence that he suspended her over the Phala Phala investigation.
The court also dismissed the application for the confirmation of the Western Cape High Court order, and dismissed Mkhwebane's application to have her impeachment hearing declared unconstitutional.
The court judgment comes as the Section 194 Inquiry is pushing ahead with an inquiry into her fitness to hold office. Mkhwebane has not met several deadlines asking her to indicate whether she would answer questions from MPs in writing or orally.
She had not answered the hundreds of questions by the July 7 deadline.
The inquiry has until the end of this month to wrap up its work, and committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi has indicated that they will not grant Mkhwebane an extension after missing the set deadlines.
Cape Times