‘Unhappy’ Mkhwebane to meet Batohi in bid to drop perjury charges
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is expected to meet with the National Prosecutions head Shamila Batohi in a bid to have the remaining perjury charges against her withdrawn.
Mkhwebane briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
During her appearance, one of the three perjury charges were withdrawn.
Mkhwebane is accused of lying under oath about several meetings she had with former president Jacob Zuma in 2017 and 2018.
Spokesperson Oupa Segalwe says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must consider withdrawing all the charges.
"Although this is a positive development, the public protector remains unhappy, as she wanted all three to be withdrawn on the grounds that they were both were frivolous and contrived.
"Now she will make further representation and this time to the national director of prosecutions, motivating why the remaining two counts should also fall.”
The case has been postponed to 29 September to allow the representations to be heard.
Segalwe believes the state does not have a strong case against Mkhwebane.
"The public protector is of the view that, contrary to what they say in court, the prosecution is not ready for trial. This is because following and based on the public protector's previous representation, the prosecution went to conduct further investigations, including obtaining new statements from two witnesses.
"The public protector wants this case disposed as soon as possible so that she can go back to her work and focus on taking the services of this independent institution to grassroots communities, where the services are needed the most."
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