Mkhwebane spokesperson defends Reserve Bank faux pas

The Public Protector’s spokesperson‚ Cleopatra Mosana‚ says that Busisiwe Mkhwebane did not get the law wrong when she recommended that the constitution be amended to expand the mandate of the Reserve Bank.

Mosana said this in an impassioned interview on Tuesday morning with 702 radio host Eusebius McKaizer.

The Public Protector’s spokesperson‚ Cleopatra Mosana‚ says that Busisiwe Mkhwebane did not get the law wrong when she recommended that the constitution be amended to expand the mandate of the Reserve Bank.

Instead Mosana likened Mkhwebane's error to a typo - an admission which has garnered almost as much criticism as Mkhwebane's initial decision.

Mosana was speaking on Tuesday morning with 702 radio host Eusebius McKaizer‚ a day after Mkhwebane backtracked on her finding that a section of the constitution be amended. The section related to the Reserve Bank and resulted in the bank taking her to court.

Asked on what basis the public protector had made the recommendation‚ she said that the decision was based on her interpretation of the law and had good intentions when looking at the narrow mandate of the Reserve Bank.

“This is an issue of technicality. She had to concede‚ following that‚ maybe the manner in which this has been crafted has created the tension‚” Mosana said.

“She didn’t get the law wrong. At the end of the day‚ why is the report still standing and being implementable if she got the law wrong?”

The public protector’s office announced on Monday that Mkhwebane will not oppose the court challenge against her finding.

“There is nothing wrong when you as a person you concede that you might have made a mistake‚ and the public protector works with a team‚ and this is the issue here.

"What you are raising is not relevant to the issue that we are dealing with at core. What is the issue? If you make a mistake‚ you do a typo yourself when you’re typing it and say ‘oh this was a typo’‚” she said.

McKaiser asked if Mosana was suggesting that Mkhwebane's office had made a typo when it typed up its remedial action on the Reserve Bank.

He then‚ humorously‚ played a recording of a car screeching and crashing‚ and said to Mosana‚”that was your boss making an unlawful u-turn and crashing‚ is she okay?”

Mosana's comments have resulted in criticism from political commentators and Twitter users.

- TimesLIVE