HRC halted probe into Helen Zille’s tweet as the matter was taken to court
The South African Human Rights Commission says the HRC’s main focus is protecting human rights, and issues of maladministration do not fall within its scope
The South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) would have been well placed to investigate the constitutionality of former DA leader Helen Zille’s tweets on colonialism but halted their investigation into the incident. "We had received complaints but we decided to halt the investigation because the matter was taken to court. We had to await the outcome of the process before commencing‚" explained commissioner Buang Jones. Many observers have criticised Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane for probing the tweet‚ accusing her of stepping into the jurisdiction of the HRC and Equality Court. Jones said the commission’s main focus was protecting human rights. "Issues of maladministration do not fall within our scope‚" he said. The duties of the public protector include investigating any level of government or public entity for misconduct‚ such as maladministration‚ abuse of power‚ unfair conduct and unlawful enrichment. She can also investigate a breach of an ethics code that applies to t...
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