EFF welcomes judgment by the Western Cape High Court declaring Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s suspension invalid
9 September 2022
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the judgment by the Western Cape High Court, which has invalidated the suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The Public Protector was suspended by the money-laundering accused Cyril Ramaphosa, a day after she announced that she would be investigating him for crimes committed in relation to Phala Phala Farm.
The court rightfully and logically found that the ongoing suspension of the Public Protector, was triggered by her decision to investigate Cyril Ramaphosa, exposing him as a tyrant who misuses his Presidential prerogative to hide his corruption and criminality.
The court scathingly found that the suspension of Mkhwebane, which came a day after she began investigating him, was premised on bias, improper motive and a conflict of interest.
Considering the sequence of events pre-dating the suspension of the Public Protector, the court found that it was reasonable to conclude that the suspension was in retaliation to the Phala Phala investigation instituted by Mkhwebane against Ramaphosa. This simply means that the President of South Africa uses his powers to intimidate and remove those who dare investigate him.
The EFF is therefore vindicated for stating that no law-enforcement agency will operate freely in investigating Phala Phala Farm while Ramaphosa is a sitting President.
It took him a day to suspended Advocate Mkhwebane in retaliation, and those tasked with investigating him at the South African Police Services (SAPS), the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) were at that point acutely aware that investigating Ramaphosa is career-suicide.
The criminal Ramaphosa has failed in his attempts at avoiding accountability and has been found as an individual who abuses his power to serve his own interests. The Phala Phala Report and relevant investigations will confirm him as a money laundering President who utilised state-resources to kidnap, trace and interrogate suspects in the theft of his illicit money.
We encourage all other heads of financial and investigative authorities to take this ruling as reassurance that Ramaphosa cannot purge those who investigate him at a whim, without a response. All investigative authorities must investigate him and Phala Phala Farm with no fear of intimidation.
Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane must be allowed to resume her duties, and on top of the list of her priorities must be the finalisation and release of the Phala Phala Report.
Ramaphosa's hatred of women has not prevailed and Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane must continue to exercise her duties without fear or favour.
Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 9 September 2022
