The Committee for Section 194 Enquiry into Public Protector (PP) Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office has refused a postponement of her testimony to March 27.

Mkhwebane is facing a motion for her removal from office on the grounds of incompetence and misconduct.

Mkhwebane’s legal team requested a further extension in providing her statement to the committee.

Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi previously agreed to extend the original deadline from March 7 to March 9, and then to March 14 by allowing the Mkhwebane to submit her statement in two parts.

Mkhwebane has since requested an extension to March 20 and further requested that her testimony be moved to March 27 instead of March 15 as per the programme.

While the committee had already granted a postponement for the PP’s affidavit, it will allow additional time for preparation of the statement without moving the date for her appearance.

“We had already granted a two-day postponement, factoring in Prof [Thuli] Madonsela’s testimony. We are granting a further postponement until 14 March 2023 to supply the affidavit,” said the committee.

The Section 194 Committee resolved that Mkhwebane’s oral testimony be delivered from March 15 until the end of the  month.

On Tuesday, the parliamentary inquiry concluded with former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s testimony, paving the way for her successor to defend herself.

“The committee had further regard to the letter it received from the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) regarding the financial difficulties it finds itself in. According to the letter, owing to financial constraints, the PPSA can only pay legal fees for the PP in respect of the hearings until the end of the financial year, being March 31,” the committee said.
 
It was mindful of putting the PPSA under further strain if it should incur irregular expenditure.

The committee resolved that at this stage it would accept statements from the witnesses provided by the PP’s legal team and then make a decision on the relevance and necessity of calling for oral evidence.