Arthur Greene
President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired the latest shot in the saga surrounding the 2020 burglary of his Phala Phala farm by suspending Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Thursday.
Ever since former spy chief Arthur Fraser lodged a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa over the incident last week, it has been clear that Ramaphosa’s opponents – both within the ANC and outside of it – would use it as a weapon to try to destroy him.
Ramaphosa’s faction has fought back against the scandal, first by denying any criminal wrongdoing and then by suspending Mkhwebane, a close ally of former president Jacob Zuma’s.
In its statement, the Presidency announced that Mkhwebane would be suspended effective immediately.
“The absence of advocate Mkhwebane from office will therefore not impede the progress of any investigations that are pending or under way,” the statement read.
The Presidency did not offer a specific reason for Mkhwebane’s suspension, but public calls to have her removed from office have persisted throughout her erratic tenure.
Her office’s findings, which have often concluded wrongdoing by Ramaphosa and his allies, have been widely seen as being carried out in bad faith.
She was responsible for the report which alleged that Ramaphosa had deliberately misled Parliament when questioned over a R500,000 donation to the ANC’s presidential campaign.
Ramaphosa ordered a judicial review into her report, which found that it showed a lack of basic knowledge about the law and was conducted in bad faith. It was dismissed and thrown out of court.
Independent reviews into her office’s findings have variously been found to have violated the Constitution, to have been carried out incompetently, or most commonly, in bad faith.
In her statement on Wednesday, the public protector appeared to preempt these very accusations that she was using her position to “target” political enemies.
But that did little to protect her and she now faces an impeachment process that will commence on 11 July.
