EDITORIAL | If MPs vote against Nkabinde report they will betray their oath of office

Tuesday is a significant day for the national assembly. It is scheduled to debate and vote on an independent panel report recommending public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane be subjected to an inquiry into her fitness to occupy her position.

It’s an opportunity for MPs across the political divide to demonstrate to what extent they are committed to putting aside factional and petty politics and protect the integrity of an institution, set up in terms of chapter nine of the constitution to shield the public against abuse of power, corruption and maladministration.

The panel, which was headed by retired justice Bess Nkabinde, made adverse findings against Mkhwebane after establishing she had a prima facie case of incompetence to answer for after a request for such a determination by speaker Thandi Modise.

Modise set up the panel in terms of national assembly rules after the DA tabled a motion calling for Mkhwebane to be removed from office, citing a litany of court rulings that called into question her understanding and interpretation of the law.

And it’s this point that is at the centre of Tuesday afternoon’s debate on whether the national assembly should adopt the panel’s recommendations and establish a special committee to probe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.

Retained on a non-renewable seven-year term, allowing her to remain in that position until her tenure expires in 2022, would be counterproductive to efforts to entrench democratic governance.

The matter has divided ANC MPs along factional lines, with those known to oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership and who are in Mkhwebane and former president Jacob Zuma’s corner, threatening to vote against the report.

They say approving it would amount to endorsing the political agenda of their opponent, the DA.

MPs such as Supra Mahumapelo even took the unusual step on Monday of writing to ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, informing of his intention to reject the report.

“Myself as an ANC MP, I will NOT vote for the DA motion coming in the form of a panel report for the removal of the public protector unless the ANC has changed its ideological posture towards parties such as the DA,” said the former North West premier in his letter.

Another member of the Zuma/Mkhwebane corner, Mervyn Dirks, took it further, accusing his chief whip, Pemmy Majodina, of misleading the public on the matter, saying the ANC caucus had not taken a formal position on the issue, after she released a statement communicating such on Saturday.

The EFF has also vowed to vote against the report.

But what all these MPs are forgetting is that they have a duty to protect the constitution and all institutions set up to enforce democracy.

Mkhwebane has proven to be nothing but a danger to the effective functioning of the office she occupies, given the many negative court findings against her and how she purged and treated senior staff as soon as she was appointed in 2016.

Retained on a non-renewable seven-year term, allowing her to remain in that position until her tenure expires in 2022, would be counterproductive to efforts to entrench democratic governance.

And this should not be trumped by petty politics or MPs would be betraying their oath of office.

Our MPs would do well to remember that until a few years ago, when Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela, assumed the position, the public had all but lost confidence in the Office of the Public Protector because previous incumbents had become protectors of the executive.

This parliament should dare not take us back to those dark days.