A showdown is set to occur in parliament’s Committee Room M46 on Wednesday 1 March as Thuli Madsonsela testifies in the impeachment inquiry of her suspended successor Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
It will be a first for South Africa when a former head of a Chapter 9 institution is called to offer evidence in a parliamentary impeachment inquiry into her successor.
It was then Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s 2014 report “Secure in Comfort”, an investigation into irregular upgrades to Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home, which altered the course of the former president’s political fortunes as he set sail into the turbulent Straits of Accountability.
Madonsela’s successor, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, on the other hand, has been accused of weaponising her office and targeting senior government officials and cabinet ministers, including Pravin Gordhan (spending R15-million), in years of failed and costly litigation.
Wrong side of truth plus incompetence – documents reveal why Busisiwe Mkhwebane keeps losing in court
It is several scathing court judgments, right up to the apex Constitutional Court, that have landed Mkhwebane at the impeachment inquiry, having to answer for her conduct.
Evidence by most of the 23 witnesses, who have testified since the inquiry kicked off on 11 July 2022, has been sensational, including that the State Security Agency (SSA) had deep links within the office.
Mkhwebane’s legal representative, advocate Dali Mpofu, has, throughout the proceedings, labelled witnesses as “disgruntled” and having “an axe to grind” and Madonsela as “everyone’s favourite”.
Madonsela was initially asked to voluntarily appear as a witness by Mkhwebane in November, but declined, stating that information Mkhwebane sought was with the office of the PPSA.
Thuli Madonsela tells impeachment inquiry that Busisiwe Mkhwebane banned her from offices
Madonsela added that, in any case, Mkhwebane had barred her from the offices after her appointment in 2016 and that “I see no rational connection of the majority of questions and the Section 194 inquiry which stems from court judgments up to the Constitutional Court regarding Advocate Mkhwebane’s integrity and her understanding of the PP’s constitutional mandate”.
Madonsela has now indicated she will be available on 1 March.
Squabbling over bills
On Day 51 of the inquiry and wrapping up a long, slow week in which very little was accomplished as Mkhwebane’s legal team stalled proceedings due to “non payment” of fees and one Mkhwebane’s witnesses proved mercurial, chairperson Qubudile Dyanti was in no mood for any further Stalingrad tactics.
The inquiry is expected to hand its decision to the National Assembly by the end ...