The inevitable has happened, and MPs have voted to impeach advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane as head of the public protector’s office for incompetence and misconduct.
One cannot help but get a sense that the now former public protector was wrongly advised, is a gutsy individual, or both.
Mkhwebane may resort to the legal route to fight her removal, but history will record that she is the first head of the public protector South Africa to be removed from office.
Just the other day, and while still suspended, Mkhwebane and her husband, David Skosana, declared war against anyone they believed was standing in her way back to the office.
A week ago, she famously took on President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding what she perceived to be her day of returning to work. She then abandoned the mission, fearing for her safety because her security personnel had been taken away.
Her defiance was believed to be rooted in a “gratuity” of about R10 million she stood to receive if she completed her term of office.
But the writing was on the wall long before the parliamentary committee probing her fitness for office had completed its term.
In view of this, Mkhwebane could have saved herself the trouble and walked away from the Chapter 9 institution with the little dignity that she had still intact.
Firstly, it was obvious that there would only be one outcome from the process.
Secondly, by taking on politicians and political battles, Mkhwebane was basically a cow trying to wrestle a pig in the mud; she stood no chance of coming out unscathed.
Her advisers could, and should, have urged her to resign before the matter reached the National Assembly, where an ANC wish is guaranteed to become reality.
The vote of 318 for her impeachment and 43 against, with one abstention, is testimony to this.
Cape Times