Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been dealt another blow after her appeal bid to challenge the SARS rogue unit was dismissed.
The Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed Mkhwebane’s attempt to appeal the invalidation of her so-called SARS “rogue unit” report into the South African Revenue Service (Sars), ending years of litigation.
The apex court refused her leave to appeal application, ruling that it had “no reasonable prospects of success”.
The court also found Mkhwebane and her office jointly liable for the legal costs of Minister Pravin Gordhan and former SARS official Ivan Pillay, who she unlawfully implicated in wrongdoing linked to the establishment and operations of SARS’ high-risk investigations unit.
Gordhan and Pillay successfully challenged the “rogue unit” report in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria- a ruling which resulted in Mkhwebane spending years and millions of taxpayers money trying to challenge with no success.
Mkhwebane’s conduct in her “rogue unit” investigation and the litigation that followed are among the bases upon which the Section 194 Committee was formed to look into her fitness to hold office.
Meanwhile, Advocate Dali Mpofu SC returned to the committee after walking out of the proceedings last month.
Mpofu dismissed claims that he staged a walkout at that the Section 194 inquiry.
On 27 October, Mpofu informed the Section 194 Committee that his mandate has come to an end and asked to be excused before leaving.
This comes after Mkhwebane’s application of an adjournment to go to court to review the committee’s chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi and Democratic Alliance MP Kevin Mileham’s decision not to recuse themselves from the inquiry, was rejected.
Addressing the committee on Wednesday, 9 November, Mpofu said he did not stage a walkout.
Source: Polity, News24, The Citizen, image from Twitter: @Powerfm987