Mkhwebane a rogue public protector, court hears
The High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday heard that Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a rogue public protector who does not pay attention to the law.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is challenging Mkhwebane's 2019 report into his campaign to be elected president of the African National Congress (ANC) at its national congress in Nasrec.
Mkhwebane found that Ramaphosa had deliberately misled Parliament when told the National Assembly an R500 000 donation into his campaign was paid to his son Andile's foundation by the late controversial Bosasa boss, Gavin Watson.
Mkhwebane investigated the transaction after a complaint by former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane.
Advocate Wim Trengrove told the court on behalf of the president that he did not deliberately mislead the National Assembly since he was under the impression the money had been paid to his son's foundation and not his campaign.
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He said Mkhwebane's finding that he misled Parliament is a disregard of the facts and a misinterpretation of the executive code of ethics.
"This is a rogue Public Protector who doesn't pay any heed to the facts or the law in her reckless determination to find the President guilty of improper conduct."
In her findings, Mkhwebane also referred the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to investigate the matter further for fraud and money laundering.
Trengrove told the court, with no evidence of money laundering, the order does not make sense.