KHAYA SITHOLE: The cost of accountability
For an institution like the public protector, the nature of the job makes litigation a pervasive risk that must be funded
One of the most protracted public wars of attrition finally ended this week when the National Assembly voted to dismiss Busisiwe Mkhwebane (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2023-09-11-another-grim-milestone-for-busisiwe-mkhwebane-as-national-assembly-fires-her/) from the post of public protector.
Mkhwebane’s tenure since 2016 has been characterised by multiple conflicts with politicians who accused her of targeting them unfairly and letting her favoured politicians off scot-free. To her detractors, reports that were taken on review together with scathing judicial comments about her probity, were sufficient reasons for her removal from office. To her supporters, the number of successfully reviewed cases as a fraction of all reports completed under her tenure meant any attempts to remove her represented a political witch-hunt. ..
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