The ANC leadership is set for a fierce fight over the parliamentary process to remove public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
This after several ANC national executive committee (NEC) members rebuked the line of march issued by party secretary-general Ace Magashule to oppose the looming vote to establish an inquiry to investigate Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.
Magashule told the Sunday Times that the party’s MPs must vote against the motion brought by the DA, which he referred to as the enemy of “poor people and the working class”.
The secretary-general’s remarks were supported by several MPs, including Mervyn Dirks, Thabo Mmutle and Kebby Maphatsoe, as well as the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) and Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
Several ANC MPs this week expressed their intention to block the parliamentary process to remove Mkhwebane, which will start on March 16, when the national assembly is set to vote on establishing an inquiry into the public protector’s fitness to hold office. The ANCWL and MKMVA have expressed their support for Mkhwebane, but the ANC’s NEC is yet to make its intentions known.
However, party NEC members Fikile Mbalula and Derek Hanekom have come out strongly against Magashule’s remarks, saying the party had not made a decision on the motion.
The matter is expected to dominate discussion at a national working committee meeting on Monday.
In several tweets after a Sunday Times article at the weekend, Mbalula criticised Magashule’s orders, even going as far as to call Mkhwebane a “hired gun”.
“Ace Magashule is wrong to suggest that Mkhwebane can’t be removed. Yes, as a friend to Mkhwebane he can express that view, but not on behalf of the ANC,” Mbalula tweeted.
“Which structure of ANC arrived at such a position? Mkhwebane is being charged with misconduct. Let’s talk about that.”
Mbalula also questioned Magashule’s capabilities as the party’s secretary-general, adding that opposition parties were not the ANC’s enemies.
Mkhwebana is a hired gun not the public protector.
— Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) March 7, 2021
“This politics Ace Magashule espouses on our behalf as our secretary-general ... where does he get them? He is supposed to be chief custodian of ANC policy that include its constitution.
“Which NEC meeting resolved to defend Mkhwebane? Secondly, the ANC strategy and tactics talk about unity and struggle of the opposite. It doesn’t characterise the opposition political parties as the enemy. You were dining with EFF leader the other day — is he your enemy?
“Opposition parties are not enemies but political opponents. Our strategy and tactics do not characterise opposition as an enemy. Secondly, which NEC resolved to defend Mkhwebane?” Mbalula asked.
Hanekom also took issue with Magashule referring to opposition political parties as enemies.
“The enemy? When did opposition parties in parliament become our enemies? Rule 2.1 of the ANC constitution, under Aims and Objectives: To unite ALL the people of South Africa ... ,” he said.
The national assembly will decide before the end of March whether to proceed with the Mkhwebane inquiry.
According to the rules regulating the removal of heads of Chapter 9 institutions, after receiving the report of an independent panel, the house has to decide whether to hold an inquiry.
Last week, an independent panel appointed to assess the merits of a motion to have the public protector removed recommended parliament institute impeachment proceedings against her. The panel, led by retired Constitutional Court judge Bess Nkabinde, said it had found substantial information that constituted prima facie evidence of incompetence and misconduct against Mkhwebane.
This included the incorrect interpretation of the law and other patent legal errors, such as failure to take relevant information into account, failure to provide the right to be heard to affected people, incorrect factual analysis, sustained lack of knowledge to carry out duties and/or inability or skill to perform her duties effectively and efficiently.
In terms of the process, the panel’s report has to be placed before the house for consideration.
A sitting of the national assembly then decides whether it agrees with the report and whether an inquiry by a parliamentary committee should be held. This decision requires a simple majority — at least 201 of the assembly’s MPs — to support it.
