IFP calls for Public Service Commission Investigation into the entire Office of the Public Protector
15 August 2019
The IFP will today request an urgent investigation by the Public Service Commission and the Parliamentary Chairperson for the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Bulelani Magwanishe, to look into the competency, experience and appointments made by Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
This comes as the Office of the Public Protector has yet again lost a case in the High Court in Pretoria. Judge Ronel Tolmay’s scathing judgment today in that the Public Protector failed the people of the country in the way she dealt with her investigation in the Estina Dairy Farm matter is a serious indictment on the Chapter 9 Institution and begs the question on the competency of the Public Protector herself and the staff within her office.
As the Public Protector does not work alone and is advised by a team, it is important that we know the full details sand credentials of each public service personnel member appointed in her office.
This is not the first time that the Office of the Public Protector’s has made serious missteps in conducting investigations and it is clear that the team which she has selected to advise her have failed and therefore Parliament and the Public Service Commission must now investigation.
It is indeed shameful that both Advocate Mkhwebane and the Office of the Public Protector has been ordered to pay some of the legal costs in this matter. This is yet another blow to the public purse which we cannot afford as a country and speaks volumes of deleterious state of the OPP.
South Africa right now can ill-afford the collapse of a key chapter 9 institutions amidst the various scandals, commissions and legal battles that are taking place. We deserve better as a Nation and we believe that this office plays in integral role in the maturing of our democratic values and the moral and ethical values of our society.
Issued by Mkhuleko Hlengwa, IFP National Spokesperson, 15 August 2019
