Protector wary of tackling Zuma
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane makes clear she wants senior counsel’s advice before considering action on the president’s ‘State of Capture’ application
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is still undecided on whether she will oppose President Jacob Zuma’s application to review the remedial action in the "State of Capture" report. Mkhwebane said she had filed a notice to oppose the president’s application in order to comply with the court rules. "In the notice, I clearly indicated that I will consider my position once I have been advised by senior counsel on the legalities of the basis of the application," she told journalists in Pretoria on Thursday. "The complexity comes in that we don’t have a [legal] precedent … so it’s [about] checking whether an institution like the public protector can instruct the president to perform his duties in terms of the provisions of the Constitution …" she said. Mkhwebane was referring to the decision by her predecessor Thuli Madonsela that a judicial commission of inquiry be established and that the sole judge be appointed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and not Zuma. Mkhwebane said she needed cl...
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