All doom and gloom for Mkhwebane as acting public protector withdraws her court application to halt impeachment

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka indicated that the Office of the Public Protector will withdraw suspended Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s applications to reverse her suspension and stop Parliament’s impeachment proceedings against her.

This brings an end to the legal battled of the suspended Public Protector to halt the impeachment proceedings against her, unless if she decides to approach the court on her own without the backing of the Chapter 9 institution.

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, who is acting in the position of Mkhwebane, withdrew the Public Protector’s application looking to reverse her suspension. Gcaleka wrote to the respondents to inform the about her decision.

The reason behind the withdrwal was due to Mkhwebane’s lawyers not being authorised by Gcaleka as the acting Public Protector.

In a letter to the registrar of the high court on Wednesday, Gcaleka said: “Please take note that the Seanago Attorneys were not authorised, instructed or briefed by me as the acting public protector or the acting CEO of the public protector as the accounting officer, to deliver the aforesaid application for leave to appeal nor the notice of amendment to Part B to the notice of motion.”

On Monday. Mkhwebane’s attorney’s, Seanago, filed an application for leave to appeal the judgement from the Western Cape High Court that refused to grant her an interim “Part A” interdict or halt the impeachment proceedings against Mkhwebane and reverse her suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

After losing that application Mkhwebane sought to have “Part B” to set aside the dismissal of her challenge to have the impeachment proceedings halted and to challenge her suspension. She amended her court papers in this part of the case. This was scheduled for July 25 and 26.

Gcaleka said that if Mkhwebane decided to pursue the applications in her own personal capacity, the public protector would “abide by the decision of the court”.

“We humbly apologise for any inconvenience to the court and the respondents caused by the aforementioned applications,” said the letter.

Doctor Mahlaule

Doctor Mahlaule previously worked as a Freelance Journalist at Find-it SA where he was responsible for writing news articles and sharing them on social media platforms. Doctor Mahlaule holds a Diploma in Journalism, BA in Communication Science and a BA Honours in Media Studies. Doctor began his journey as a knowledge Management and Communications Intern at Zenex Foundation. He was responsible for support in event management, social media, website maintenance, writing and brand management. On weekends Doctor attends prison ministry and shares the scriptures with inmates at Krugersdorp prison and plays soccer in the afternoon on some weekends. He has a passion for reading and writing and enjoys going out with friends and socialising in his spare time. He has a one-year-old son and is planning on getting married soon. When asked about what keeps him going, he said: “My family keeps me going. I’m the man I am because I come from a loving home. I have a very supportive family who always encourages me to keep pushing hard.”

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