Accountability Now: Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s days in office are numbered

The remarks follow after the Pretoria High Court postponed the case against Mkhwebane to March 25 this year.

The Director of the organization, Paul Hoffman, says the postponement of the case could affect Mkhwebane’s future as a public protector.

"The matter has been postponed to the 25th of March which is six days before the end of the long leave that the public protector has taken.

"It is difficult to tell whether this is the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. It could be that the public protector is elected to take long leave because she feels too embattled to carry on fighting parliament, legal practice council, the National Prosecuting Authority, with the President, with Ace Magashule, with Pravin Gordhan, and other people who are unhappy with the quality of the work she has been doing," adds Hoffman.

"So, it is possible that she could simply decide to take her long leave and that she will concentrate on her defence on the perjury case and not go back to work as the public protector after her long leave."

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Hoffman believes Mkhwebane’s attempt to withdraw the case will fail.

"All the perjury charges will depend on the strength of the representation that she makes to the national director of public prosecution. You will understand that the National Prosecuting Authority has decided that there is a prima facie case of perjury against her.

"Unless she can put forward information to persuade Advocate Batohi that there is a mistake here and people have not done things correctly that her findings of her deliberately misleading the court does not amount to perjury.

"Then her attempts to get the case withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority will fail."