WC High Court made errors in upholding Busisiwe Mkhwebane suspension bid, says President Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said the Western Cape High Court made a number of errors when it upheld Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s challenge to her suspension.

A full bench comprising three judges on Friday declared Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Mkwhebane invalid and set it aside.

While her suspension was against the backdrop of the impeachment proceedings that were before Parliament, the court found that it was improper as it came days after she had sent the president questions on the Phala Phala saga.

The Democratic Alliance responded by immediately lodging an application for leave to appeal with the Constitutional Court and the president followed suit on Monday.

The president’s grounds of appeal against the high court’s finding include that there are “a number of reasons” why there would be a reasonable perception of bias on his part.

The high court relied on the Constitutional Court having previously criticised Mkhwebane’s investigation of Ramaphosa.

But Ramaphosa’s legal team emphasized that the criticism in question was based on her conduct and that he suspended her almost a year after the decision in which it featured was handed down.

The high court also found that at the time of suspension, the president was sitting with a long list of questions and that it was difficult to sustain the contention that the suspension wouldn’t delay the Phala Phala probe against this backdrop.

His legal team said there’s no evidence to support this though.

Further, they reject the high court’s finding that Mkhwebane’s questions to Ramaphosa on 17 June “prompted” his decision and argue the court focused only on the events following thereafter but that the process leading to her suspension started back in March.

-EWN

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