Former Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane has hit back at the speed at which President Cyril Ramaphosa fired her - less than 24 hours after MP’s voted for her removal as Public Protector.
She said with a multitude of issues facing South Africa, from education, water and an energy crisis, MPs and the president had instead focused their energies on her “for doing my job”.
Mkhwebane suffered the ignominy of becoming the first Chapter 9 head to be fired after more than 79% of MP’s voted to remove her from office on Tuesday.
The final nail in her fraught term of office came on Wednesday morning when President Ramaphosa wrote to her and said: “In terms of section 194(3)(b) of the Constitution, when the National Assembly adopts a resolution for the removal of the Public Protector, the president ‘must’ remove the Public Protector from the office,” wrote Ramaphosa.
“I therefore hereby inform you that you are hereby removed from the office of the public protector in terms of section 194(3)(b) of the constitution on the grounds of misconduct and incompetence,” he wrote.
Speaking on Newzroom Afrika shortly after the announcement, Mkhwebane said she was not surprised, but said the entire process to have her removed was illegal and unlawful.
“The process was a predetermined outcome. This is so vindictive to the point where I am left with less than six weeks in office and it has been implemented,” she said.
Mkhwebane said she will exercise her rights, as the process to impeach and fire her had been done without her completing her testimony.
Asked about leaving office with the possibility of no benefits, Mkhwebane said that was not the case, as she was appointed for seven years on a non-renewable contract.
“The gratuity was very clear. It was approved on taking office and that the Public Protector will receive this money,” she said.
She said she was not shocked that 79.5% of the National Assembly had voted for her to be fired.
“It is cry the beloved country. You will find parties like the ANC, the DA, ACDP, Good Party and IFP voting to remove me for doing my work, and if they can have that energy to just change the status quo of the country. I mean, we are sitting on Stage 8 (load shedding), our power system is in tatters, our education system is in shambles, people don't have water, but they instead focus on me. I was doing my work … I am not shocked. I am just very surprised that the president became so efficient this time (in firing me) and within hours sent the letter (removing her),” Mkhwebane said.
She said she would expect the president to act with such speed on service delivery and other issues affecting South Africans.
Asked about her legacy and whether she was concerned by the fact that she is the first Chapter 9 head to be fired, she said she in fact feels sad for the public who are kept in the dark, are marginalised and living in poverty.
“From my side, I have done my best, as leader of that institution, I had three clean audits with the Auditor General, I improved the performance of that office from below 20% in October 2016 to above 79% on our core mandate. I am a very proud person. My message to the Public Protector staff is, please, your focus should be the public and not about you. But make sure you help the public and protect them from the abuse of the state,” she said.
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