Getting the law wrong is not a typo, Public Protector

12 July 2017

The DA will again write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, Dr Mathole Motshekga, to request that he urgently summon the Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to account for her very public U-turn on her recommendation that the mandate of the Reserve Bank (SARB) be changed in the Constitution.

Mkhwebane has admitted her findings on the mandate of the SARB were wrong and has put it down to ‘an honest mistake’. This is simply unacceptable and has already cost the South African economy when the Rand’s value declined off the back of her latest report and remedial action.

The Public Protector is required to know her mandate, and more importantly, the law.

The DA repeatedly warned that Mkhwebane was not the most suitable candidate for Public Protector. The Constitution requires the Public Protector be capable and competent. Yet, her recent errors have shown either that she does not know and fully understand her powers or that that she does not care to carry out her duties within the confines of her mandate.

Mkhwebane clearly does not take seriously the post she holds and must therefore be summoned urgently as she is accountable to Parliament and not the other way around.

Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, 12 July 2017