Adv. Mkhwebane rejects CASAC’s claims

Public Protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane has noted with concern and disappointment the claims leveled against her by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) in a widely publicized media statement dated 25 April 2018. 

Although the matter is before the courts, and therefore sub-judice, Adv. Mkhwebane is of the strong view that letting the allegations concerned go without a challenge will have dire implications for her office in the eyes of the public. She, accordingly and without going deep into the merits, wishes to set the record straight.

Regarding the purported provisional report’s remedial action that parts of the investigation be referred to the Special Investigation Unit and Auditor-General, the Hawks’ forensic investigation on the movement of money was already at an advanced stage, with most of the people implicated in wrongdoing having been arrested and some assets preserved in terms of the court orders. There was, therefore no need to reinvent the wheel and start a parallel investigation. As such, the remedial action taken by the Public Protector was appropriate, considering the issues investigated, the arrests and preservation orders.

Third, the simple reading of the purported provisional report will show that the involvement of the politicians was never part of the investigation and neither did it form part of the report. Any suggestion that the Public Protector shielded politicians is therefore devoid of any truth and is malicious. We have attached a copy of the purported unsigned draft provisional report in question and we will be sharing it on our platforms for the public to read it for themselves in an unmediated fashion and make their own conclusions, free from the distortions of people, who have ulterior motives. See provisional report referred to here: http://www.publicprotector.org/sites/default/files/media%20statements/5%204%201_Report%20Provisional%20Vrede%2028%20November%20Final1%20%283%29.pdf