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Members of Parliament voted to remove the Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, in a majority on Monday.
The National Assembly considered the report and recommendations of the Section 194 Inquiry into her fitness to hold office, with the vote coming in more than a year later.
All members of the ANC and the DA were in favour of her removal, while members of the EFF voted against it.
Cope's Mosiuoa Lekota was the only on to abstain.
Commenting afterwards, the Democratic Alliance said it was the only party to oppose Mkhwebane’s appointment in 2016.
“For the last seven years, we held firm in our conviction that she is not a suitable individual to occupy the office of Public Protector,” said Chief Whip, Siviwe Gwarube.
She said while the Public Protector “had employed all sorts of Stalingrad tactics, costing the taxpayer more than R160 million as she disgracefully hung on, Parliament finally rectified this today.”
Freedom Front Plus Chief Whip, Dr Corne’ Mulder, said Mkhwebane had failed the public and was more concerned about her own interests than protecting the public.
“The process to remove her from office was the first of its kind since 1994 where an attempt was made to get rid of the chairperson of a Chapter 9 Institution.”
Good Party spokesperson, Brett Herron, said while they felt “procedurally and morally” obliged to vote for “impeachment”, they did not celebrate the vote.
“Her legal strategy not to respond to evidence placed before her at the Inquiry, denied the country the opportunity to hear her perspectives. Members of the Section 194 Committee only got to hear one side of the story,” he said.
Herron said the Inquiry was an opportunity for the Public Protector to explain her version, but by choosing to remain silent she left Committee members no legal grounds not to recommend her impeachment.
EFF Treasurer-General, Omphile Maotwe, said during debate that the report was a product of a grossly unfair process against the Public Protector and was a witch-hunt initiated by the DA and supported by the ANC.
This she said was to punish Mkhwebane in order to protect President Ramaphosa. “We reiterate our stance that we reserve our right to this report and the illegal adoption of this report by Parliament on judicial review.”
