Mkhwebane stands by poisoning claims, despite police denial
8 July 2019
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is standing by her claim that her bodyguard was poisoned, her office told News24 on Monday.
This despite the police denying this, saying there was no evidence to back up the claim. In an interview with News24, Mkhwebane's spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said, while the her office was not willing share the details of the incident, "the Public Protector stands by her statement".
During a media briefing on Friday, Mkhwebane said that she had received information about the attempt to poison a member of the VIP protection unit, assigned to look after her.News24 reported that Mkhwebane, who released a damning report against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, refused to disclose any further information on her claims, only saying some of her property had been tampered with.While police have launched an investigation into the claims, they have said that there is no evidence that gives credence to them.
Over the weekend national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the first time such allegation had come to light was when the Public Protector was quoted in the media.