Former tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu has come to suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson's defence, claiming they are “victims of a system that lives off the subjugation of women”.
In an opinion piece titled “Dear Women of Mzansi”, Sisulu said from the first day Mkhwebane took office she was treated with “huge scepticism” and “silenced”.
“Busiswe was treated with huge scepticism from day one she took the job. Unlike her predecessor, she didn’t have the wholesale support of white media and they couldn’t wait to prove themselves right; that maybe she is not 'fit' for the job,” said Sisulu.
“That’s where she finally entrapped with all manner of justification to establish a committee to check her fitness to do her job, and she was never going to get out alive.
“Similarly with Tina, a victim of her own compassion, maybe she thought she was reaching out to another woman to 'save' her. All who knew Tina knew her as a gentle, kind, caring soul. Both these women are caught up in a society that judges them and looks at women as objects to be used and patriarchally entrenched.”
Sisulu said women's silence in the persecution of Mkhwebane makes all women complicit.
“As an African woman, an ANC veteran, a member of the ANC’s national executive committee and a member of the ANC's Women's League, it becomes very difficult to stay quiet on the reprehensible treatment of Mkhwebane. Silence is tantamount to a brazen betrayal of the values instilled in me by my parents, the ANC and, above all, the values enshrined in the constitution of South Africa,” she said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa suspend Mkhwebane as public protector in 2022 following her decision to investigate a complaint against him flowing from the theft at his game farm.
Last week, Mkhwebane held a press briefing where she blamed all arms of the state for Joemat-Pettersson's death.
She claimed to have evidence of extortion, bribery and corruption against the chair of the section 194 inquiry into her fitness to hold office Qubudile Dyantyi, ANC parliamentary chief whip Pemmy Majodina and Joemat-Pettersson.
Mkhwebane detailed and released audio recordings and WhatsApp messages between her husband David Skosana and Joemat-Pettersson, alleging a R600,000 bribe for Majodina, Dyantyi and Joemat-Pettersson was spoken about in two separate meetings.
She also alleged the legislature was directly involved in Joemat-Pettersson's death.
“On March 16, [Joemat-Pettersson] asked one of the parliamentary officials to give her phone to my husband and requested him to punch in my number. She invited my husband to two separate meetings where she solicited a bribe of at least R600,000 for herself and Dyantyi and Majodina.
“My husband pretended to play along and even negotiated the price to be set at R150,000 instead of R200,000 each. He intended to trap them. The deal went sour before the conditions were met. Had the legislature, speaker and members of the committee discharged their duties she would be alive today,” Mkhwebane said.
Police minister Bheki Cele said Mkhwebane's press briefing was poorly timed and did not afford Joemat-Pettersson's family time to grieve her death.
Cele said he had hoped space would be given to allow for “those who are mourning the loss of a relative, a colleague”.
“I listened to that discussion yesterday [Tuesday] at a media briefing. I hoped that space would be given, but it was not. There was no space given. It is a killer, a killer punch to sit and listen to those things.”
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