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The Parliamentary Committee considering the fitness of the Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to hold office says it will stick to the deadline for the consideration of its draft report, in spite of her missing several key deadlines.
In a lengthy statement, the Chairperson of the Committee for Section 194 Enquiry, Qubudile Dyantyi, said she had not yet indicated whether she would be making any final closing arguments pertaining to the allegations in the motion before the committee.
He said that “up to this point, Advocate Mkhwebane has failed to meet any of the deadlines that are stipulated in the new path that the committee was forced to take so as to fulfill its constitutional mandate and finalise its work.
Dyanti said according to the new timetable, the suspended Public Protector had to submit written notice to the committee secretariat indicating if she would make a closing statement and the format in which it will be made by no later than Friday, 7 July.
“Once again, the committee provided an opportunity to the PP to explain her version of the allegations before it, but she failed to respond,” he lamented.
Qubudile said it was also not the first deadline missed by her since the Committee was forced to forge a new path after various challenges and delays arose in relation to Mkhwebane’s legal assistance, “even though the PPSA made another R4 million available in additional funds and the PP was granted permission to retain all three of her counsel at increased fees.”
He said has also missed a number of other deadlines during the Month of June, adding that the deadlines set by the Committee will not be extended any further.
“We remain at the 28 July as our deadline for the consideration of the draft report for its adoption,” Qubudile said.
He said her continued non-response to questions and deadlines “means that we may produce a report much sooner than initially planned.”
