South Africa’s top anti-corruption crusader, Busisiwe Mkhwebane who serves as the Public Protector is facing corruption allegations.
She is facing allegations of abuse of office and favouring corrupt elites in South Africa.
One of those making the allegations is Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan.
He has accused Mkhwebane of targeting him unfairly in her investigations, something other government officials agree with.
They claim Mkhwebane is attacking honest politicians and rather paving the way for corrupt forces to seize power in the country.
The Public Protector issued a report this month after investigating the SA Revenue Service (SARS).
Rogue unit
Mkhwebane’s investigation into the SARS “rogue unit” which is an investigative unit led to recommendations for President Cyril Ramaphosa to discipline Gordhan for his authorizing the establishment of the unit while he was SARS commissioner.
The Public Prosecutor found the unit to have been illegal and engaged in illegal activities.
She also accused Gordhan of lying about a meeting with a member of the Gupta family.
But Gordhan has filed a case at the court seeking the court to interdict the report.
He described the report as biased and unlawful, and accused her of targeting him as part of a plot to return South Africa to the “dark path of lawlessness”.
Gordhan in his statement in court also said the SARS investigative unit was established legally and within the prescripts of the law.
Public Protector reacts
On Thursday a statement from Mkhwebane’s office said she was “disappointed at the indignity of personal insults contained in the court application” by Gordhan.
Although Mkhwebane’s office accepts that people can seek review to challenger her reports she “wishes to record her disappointment at how the court application is cloaked in the indignity of personal insults.”
The statement added that Mkhwebane “will only be commenting on the facts of the matter, as engaging in the personal insults is below the dignity of the high offices of responsibility which she and the minister occupy.”
Mkhwebane said in her statement that she has confidence in her findings and would be defending them in court.
Source: Africafeeds.com
