Section 194 committee to finish Mkhwebane inquiry by end of July

CAPE TOWN - The parliamentary committee conducting an inquiry into the fitness of suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold office has insisted it will not give her any further extensions after missing several deadlines and will complete its work by the end of July.

The chairperson of the committee, Qubudile Dyantyi, said Mkhwebane had failed to meet any of the deadlines that were set out by the committee.

The committee was established in March 2021 and was meant to have completed its work months ago.

Dyantyi said the committee will now finish its work in the next two weeks and submit its report to Parliament.

He said Mkhwebane was supposed to have given the committee an indication by last Friday whether she would make a closing statement or not. However, she did not respond.

The chairperson said the committee must fulfil its constitutional mandate and submit the report to Parliament.

Mkhwebane had a few weeks ago said she was going to lodge an application for the recusal of Dyantyi.

This follows allegations of bribery made against Dyantyi, ANC chief whip Pemmy Dyantyi and late former MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

Both Majodina and Dyantyi have denied the allegations.

Dyantyi said the committee must conclude its work.

“We remain at 28 July as our deadline for the consideration of the draft report for its adoption. In fact, to the contrary, her continued non-response to questions and deadlines means that we may produce a report much sooner than the initially planned date because there would be no reason for the chairperson not to direct the evidence leader to do the summation earlier than planned or to convene a committee meeting earlier than 28 July if this is practical,” said Dyantyi.

Parliament is in the process of selecting the new public protector as Mkhwebane’s term ends in October.

Another ad hoc committee has been appointed to oversee the appointment of the new public protector.

The ad hoc committee is chaired by ANC MP Cyril Xaba.