The Constitutional Court has ruled that the National Assembly’s impeachment proceedings against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane can proceed.
The court has handed down a unanimous judgment in the case in which National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Democratic Alliance appealed to the court to overturn a ruling of the High Court in the Western Cape last year.
This after the High Court found faults with two rules for the removal of a head of a Chapter Nine institution.
Mkhwebane’s challenge
The Public Protector has questioned the constitutionality of the rules.
Among the grounds for this is that the rules seek to amend the Constitution via the back door by adding gross misconduct as one of the grounds for her removal.
She has also said the rules cannot be applied retrospectively because they had not been adopted at the time of her alleged misconduct.
Mkhwebane has also questioned why the rules do not allow her to be represented by her lawyer in the proceeding of the ad-hoc committee that will investigate her suitability to hold office.
Legal counsel for Parliament argued that the National Assembly has a right to institute an inquiry into the Public Protector’s fitness to hold office.
More details in the video below:
