Minutes after outgoing Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane announced she would brief lawyers funded by the Office of the Public Protector to challenge the parliamentary report recommending her removal in court, she received notice the office had withdrawn the funding.
"It shows how hellbent the system is against me," said Mkhwebane at a media briefing at the Premier Hotel in Midrand, Gauteng, on Wednesday.
The report still has to be considered by the National Assembly, where a two-thirds majority is required to remove a Public Protector. Much of Mkhwebane's reasoning as to why it would be irrational for the National Assembly to consider the report revolves around her claims she was without legal representation during the latter stages of the process.
This meant the process, which was initially scheduled to be completed by September last year, with R4.5 million as Mkhwebane's legal costs, is ongoing, with her Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane during a media briefing at Premier Hotel Midrand on 30 August 2023 in Midrand, South Africa.
"It would be a public outrage if someone who significantly harmed the Office of the Public Protector could escape unscathed and receive a substantial final payment at taxpayers' expense through deliberately avoiding accountability." She said the R4 million the Office of the Public Protector made available for the conclusion of her impeachment hearings would be utilised for this.Minutes later, while answering questions, Mkhwebane announced, with a laugh, she had just received notice the Office of the Public Protector terminated her legal representation, a"further breach of the law".
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