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Parliament’s inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office expected to resume

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Parliament’s Section 194 inquiry into Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office will resume with the cross-examination of witness, Sphelo Samuel, on Thursday morning.

The hearing had to adjourn earlier on Wednesday afternoon after the committee highlighted that Samuel had health concerns and they had to give him support.

During the hearing, Samuel gave extensive evidence about among other things, the Vrede Dairy investigation of which he was part.

Samuel is the Provincial Head of the Public Protector’s Office in the Free State. He was reinstated last month after successfully challenging his dismissal at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Just before Mkhwebane’s legal representative Dali Mpofu could start with his cross-examination on Wednesday afternoon, the committee Chairperson Richard Dyantyi made the announcement that the session is carried over to Thursday.

Mpofu is expected to cross-examine Samuel from 10 o’clock on Thursday morning on the various issues raised in his testimony.

These include his claims that Mkhwebane instructed him not to make adverse findings against politicians who had to account for the Vrede Dairy wrongdoings.

He is also expected to be cross-examined about various testimonies he made, including his claim that Mkhwebane refused to issue a subpoena to politicians who were not cooperating in the Vrede Dairy investigation.

In the video below, journalist Lulama Matya reports that Sphelo Samuel was previously suspended after writing to Parliament in 2020,  asking it to investigate Mkhwebane: 

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