Public Protector to oppose judicial review sought by Gigaba‚ Reserve Bank‚ parliament

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane plans to oppose a judicial review of her CIEX report, which looked into a bailout granted by the Reserve Bank to Absa, eNCA reported on Thursday.

Mkhwebane's opposition to the judicial review sets the stage for a mammoth legal standoff with the Reserve Bank, Absa, parliament and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, all of whom plan to challenge her findings.

In the CIEX report, Mkhwebane said the South African government and the Reserve Bank had failed to protect the public interest by bailing out Bankorp, later bought by Absa, between 1985 and 1991.

Mkhwebane recommended that parliament amend the constitution in order to expand the mandate of the Reserve Bank to include protecting citizens’ socio-economic conditions.

The recommendations attracted widespread criticism from the business community and the ANC‚ which all accused her of overstepping the mark of her constitutional powers.