The public protector does not have to be fit and proper but must be competent and honest
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MPs have heard that she spent R146.9-million defending her reports, with a third going to an obscure law firm
Several witnesses have testified that Mkhwebane covered her tracks in investigations and court
Ponatshego Mogaladi, former manager of investigations at the public protector, told parliament the Economic Freedom Fighters leader sent her the report in 2018
Basani Baloyi testified she was shocked
The suspended public protector told him she would pleased if the probe into the scam delivered no adverse findings, Reginald Ndou tells inquiry
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The president’s evidence is not necessary to determine whether she is guilty of misconduct, the section 194 committee concludes
It is the third report pertaining to Pillay that has been set aside by the high court
Mere forgiving and forgetting based on a lack of political will, incompetence, laziness, corrupt motives or even universal love, is not on
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But her colleague told parliament he could not say whether the suspended public protector would rewrite findings produced by her office
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The senior counsel suggested to MPs that everything a former employee of the public protector’s office said was a lie
The institution of the public protector said it would now invoke its powers of subpoena to get responses from the president on the burglary at his private game farm
The directive in the report that the mandate of the Reserve Bank be changed was dictated to the public protector by intelligence officials, a suspended employee testified
The suspended public protector did not disclose that she had a copy of a classified intelligence report on a high risk unit in Sars but a recording suggests otherwise
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Advocate Dali Mpofu, appearing for the suspended public protector, insists that the president wrongfully suspend her and this taints the parliamentary process that could lead to her impeachment
The suspended public protector urged the Judicial Service Commission to investigate the incident further, saying the judges she named must be removed from the bench
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The SCA president said she was shocked by a leak from the apex court, days after an investigation ordered by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo found that there could not have been one
The president rejected the demand that he lift her suspension as public protector and said he would defend his decision in a legal challenge she sought to bring
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The high court said her second rescission application did nothing to suspend the operation of a court order, and stressed the importance of accountability of the public protector
The decision came despite inventive litigation launched by the public protector to stave off both suspension and a parliamentary impeachment inquiry
Advocate Andrew Breitenbach, appearing for parliament, said the message he received did not advantage his client and was no cause to suspend the impeachment inquiry against the public protector
Public protector’s counsel said nothing in the law prohibited her from filing another rescission application
The chief justice was acting in a non-judicial capacity when chairing the state capture inquiry, so the complaint probably falls outside the law but underscores the risk of naming sitting judges to investigate political scandals
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Public protector accuses the constitutional court of ignoring alleged wrongdoing by its members
The public protector is attempting to use an alleged leak on the rescission decision to undermine the ruling – and the highest court in the land
Busisiwe Mkhwebane wants the process halted pending an investigation she has demanded the constitutional court conducts into an obscure text message — and is trying to dictate the terms of it
The embattled public protector has also again petitioned the constitutional court on the subject of the message, which she claims suggest the outcome of her rescission application was leaked
But observers said the damage was done, delaying impeachment proceedings and providing more ammunition for political attack on the apex court
The high court postponed the public protector’s bid to stem her suspension after a text message that would suggest, if legitimate, that constitutional court judges were leaking decisions
The public protector’s lawyer informed the court and the respondents of the ‘unfortunate’ development on the eve of the high court hearing
In arguing that the retired judge fell foul of the judicial code of conduct when he criticised her misreading of the executive ethics code, Mkhwebane risks misreading the rules again
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The president cautions that the courts cannot interfere with his constitutional power to suspend the public protector
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