The Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she’s not taking lightly the possible leak of information from the Constitutional Court. She will be therefore be opening a criminal case against Ismail Abramjee.
This follows the dramatic postponement of the last week’s Cape Town High Court hearing on Mkhwebane’s legal bid to block President Cyril Ramaphosa from suspending her.
One of the lawyers told the court about a confidential text message he received, hinting on the possible outcome of another Mkhwebane matter before the ConCourt.
It later emerged that Parliament’s legal counsel Andrew Breitenbach had received a text message from Abramjee, informing him that he had it on very good authority that the ConCourt had declined to hear Mkhwebane’s rescission application, and that the decision was going to be communicated sometime last week, but not later than last Friday.
Mkhwebane was in East London where she was inspecting conditions of the January flood victims. When asked about this text incident between Abramjee and Breitenbach, which played out in other court, regarding another court’s decision, Mkhwebane said: “We will be opening a criminal case against Ismail Abramjee and we will also make sure that we’re going deep to what is currently happening with the matter, we will hear from the Chief Justice.”
She said the incident is worrisome and damaging to the credibility of the judicial system. But on the other hand said she welcomed the remarks by the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that the matter would be investigated.
“It makes me wonder whether we have a credible judicial system if a person can get that kind of information. I wouldn’t be surprised; it shows you that possibly there are choreographed processes and it is worrying if they reject hearing our arguments. We depend on courts to help us interpret the law and to guide us, now it seems we are going to receive the same thing like in the Bosasa matter where in just one sentence they told us that they are not going to be listening to us,” said Mkhwebane.
Mkhwebane said the disclosure of the message by Breitenbach in Cape Town High Court was God’s intervention.
“Thanks to Breitenbach, if we can have a lot of people like him who will make sure that they don’t take things like those lightly we will have a better country,” she said.
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