Parliament, Tuesday, 9 May 2023 – The Committee for Section 194 Enquiry into Public Protector (PP) Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office unanimously agreed to adjourn its inquiry. Adv Mkhwebane appeared before the committee requesting the committee to postpone the meeting because she does not have legal representation.
Adv Mkhwebane said: “I will ask and plead with you that you let us postpone the hearing and let Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) follow proper processes and appoint the attorney and agree on the terms and conditions, appoint and brief the legal counsel and we can indeed proceed with the hearings.”
The committee was meant to resume its hearings on Monday following the temporary adjournment of its work as a result of the PPSA indicating that it would not be in a position to fund the costs of Adv Mkhwebane’s legal team beyond 31 March 2023.
Members of the committee expressed their views and said it would be unfair to continue with the hearings without legal representation for Adv Mkhwebane. The committee heard that the PPSA has since made available a further R4 million to conclude the process.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Qubudile Dyantyi, said the committee will resume next week Monday, which gives time for Adv Mkhwebane to sort out any issues relating to her legal representation. “The inquiry is going to proceed. We are not going to have another discussion about this legal team or that legal team is absent. We are resuming next week Monday with the new or old legal representative,” said Mr Dyantyi.
The committee was established on 16 March 2021 to conduct a constitutional inquiry into the PP’s fitness to hold office and is now expected to conclude its work towards the end of May 2023. Committee documents can be found at Committee for Section 194 Enquiry - Parliament of South Africa
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE FOR SECTION 194 ENQUIRY, MR QUBUDILE DYANTYI
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