Accusations of ‘president's protector’ fly after public protector's office blocks Mkhwebane's return

Suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who planned to return to work on Tuesday, blamed her deputy, Kholeka Gcaleka, after being refused entry to the public protector's office.

Dressed in a bright orange dress and black heels, Mkhwebane stood outside the Hillcrest Office Park and addressed the media, instead of entering the office as planned.

In a statement issued on the eve of her planned return to the office, the public protector's spokesperson, Ndili Msoki, said Mkhwebane's suspension remained effective and she could not return until President Cyril Ramaphosa, who suspended her last year, advised otherwise.

Mkhwebane said she did not enter the premises as her protection unit had been suspended for the day and criticised Gcaleka for the office’s pushback.

“They should have kept quiet. I think the deputy public protector [Gcaleka] exposed herself. She has also exposed what I was saying, that [it is] as if she is working with these persecutors. She should have allowed the president to deal with this matter,” she told journalists. 

Mkhwebane believes the public protector’s office should have no say regarding her plans to return to work, while the National Assembly is expected to vote next week on parliament's section 194 inquiry report which recommended her removal after probing her fitness to hold office.

Mkhwebane echoed the accusations of opposition political parties that Gcaleka was Ramaphosa's “protector”. 

“It is so embarrassing as it shows ... she is what she is accused of — being a president’s protector. The president said I am suspended with full benefits, protection and all allowances, and everything. 

“Now she comes back and says I am not an employee. Indeed, I am accountable to parliament, but this institution, I am its executive authority. I think she should have just kept quiet and not said anything, and not entertained all of this.” 

During former president Jacob Zuma's tenure, Mkhwebane was also accused of being a “president’s protector”.

In 2017 the Reserve Bank accused her of meeting with members of Zuma's office and the State Security Agency before she released a report on missing apartheid funds. 

Despite declining to comment on Gcaleka's nomination for the role of public protector, Mkhwebane said the majority of MPs would vote for her.

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