Pretoria High Court vindicates Herman Mashaba by setting aside frivolous Public Protector report
31 January 2023
ActionSA is pleased that today the High Court in Pretoria decided to set aside the frivolous report into me during my time as the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
This ruling brings to an end a long legal battle to clear my name, where I was willing to take the allegations to court and challenge them publicly. Today I am vindicated by the ruling, proving that I always acted ethically during my time in the City, and in accordance with the law.
Before she was suspended Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report into my time as Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg erroneously found that I exercised undue political influence by unlawfully and irregularly entering the procurement space and interfering and influencing the giving of a grant in contravention of national legislation and prescripts. This is simply not true, and the High Court agreed.
Specifically, the High Court in Pretoria set aside the report on the basis that her findings, against me, were “unconstitutional, unlawful, and invalid.”
While we are pleased with this result, we are unsurprised at this outcome given that Adv Mkhwebane has yet to win any meaningful court bid defending her work since she assumed office.
Adv Mkhwebane has even been excoriated by South Africa's apex court which questioned her motives and her understanding of the law. This Is the latest example in a laundry list of adverse findings against her by South Africa's courts.
This is the latest example in a mounting pile of evidence that points to Adv Mkhwebane weaponising her office to take out political opponents and demonstrates the great lengths her and the ANC in the City and in the Gauteng Province went to create havoc and disrupt the progress we were making for the residents of Johannesburg.
We look forward to her reign of terror coming to an end later this year and look forward to Parliament applying Itself to the appointment of a Public Protector who can discharge their role with credibility and without fear or favour. This will go a long way to restoring the confidence in that office that was eviscerated by Adv Mkhwebane.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 31 January 2023
