Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - The 30-Day Phala Phala investigation deadline that Public Protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, told President Cyril Ramaphosa that she had to honour – before she was suspended with immediate effect – might not be met after all.
Before her suspension, Mkhwebane had written to Ramaphosa, informing him that she had until July 3 to finalise an investigation into allegations that he might have possibly breached the Executive Members Ethics Act.
The investigation followed a formal request from African Transformation Movement (ATM) president Vuyo Zungula, who was concerned that Ramaphosa kept a lot of cash at his Phala Phala farm in Waterberg, Limpopo, possibly without declaring it.
Public protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe told the Pretoria News that the Phala Phala investigation was going well under Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, although the issue of deadlines could not be guaranteed.
“The investigation is proceeding well without any hindrance. The act prescribed the 30-day deadline but it also anticipates that in the event the deadline is not met, the public protector can write to the would-be recipient of the report to say the deadline couldn’t be met and that the report would be shared once the matter is completed.”
Segalwe said meeting such deadlines was not an easy feat. “We have never met it as an office due to the complexities of matters and respondents asking for extensions.”
Meanwhile, by the time of going to print, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya had not stated whether or not Ramaphosa was able to meet Mkhwebane’s deadline for him to reverse her suspension by no later than 5pm on Tuesday.
Magwenya had earlier promised to do so. “I’ll get back to you after 5pm once the president has responded to advocate Mkhwebane,” said Magwenya.
After 5pm he did not respond to follow-ups on the matter.
In a letter addressed to the president challenging her suspension, Mkhwebane asserted that Ramaphosa ignored crucial submissions that she made to him. The submissions included that Ramaphosa made an undertaking to alert Mkhwebane of his view of her submissions before taking any decision.
“You have clearly breached your undertaking by giving your indication simultaneously with the suspension letter. That response comes too late and serves no purpose.”
Mkhwebane further argued that instead of dealing with Part A of her legal contention, the president dealt with issues in Part B tyet to be ventilated in a different forum. Mkhwebane’s Part B deals with a legal precedent in which the courts ruled that former president Jacob Zuma could not make decisions in matters involving former PP Thuli Madonsela because there was a conflict of interest in that Madonsela was investigating Zuma.
Mkhwebane said there were a number of investigations she had instituted into Ramaphosa’s possible involvement in breach of constitutional statutes.
These include the Glencore matter, where the international mining company has pleaded guilty to bribing its way into lucrative government deals in South America and Africa. The investigation followed a request from UDM leader Bantu Holomisa. The other matter is a request from the ATM asking Mkhwebane to investigate the farm scandal.
Pretoria News