Impeached Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has expressed confidence that Parliament stands better placed to deliver a credible and enforceable report—particularly from the testimony of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi—than any judicial commission could.
This is the same institution that once ended Mkhwebane’s tenure as a Chapter 9 institution head.
Mkhwebane, who now serves as provincial leader of Mpumalanga under Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, took to social media platform TikTok this week to commend the work of the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee to probe the allegations made by Mkhwanazi.
According to her, the committee holds more authority than the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, commonly referred to as the Madlanga commission.
Echoing Mkhwanazi’s sentiments
Mkhwebane echoed Mkhwanazi’s suspicions that politicians, police officers, judges, journalists, and criminals were sometimes entangled in the same web of influence, saying the allegations resonated with her own experiences as a former public protector.
“You’d hear the testimony, and you’d realise that we still deal with the same actors, same individuals, same institutions,” Mkhwebane said.
“I investigated various complaints, including the CR17 campaign and the Reserve Bank matter, and I also started investigating Phala Phala. You’d realise that in South Africa, those individuals who are in power are always protected.”
Criticising President Cyril Ramaphosa, whom she described as the final recipient of the Madlanga commission report, Mkhwebane questioned the usefulness of non-binding inquiries whose recommendations rest in the same hands they often implicate.
Committee hearing cost-effective
“The testimony of general Mkhwanazi is very encouraging because there is an ad hoc committee… The process is also encouraging. It’s a process where members of Parliament wouldn’t cost anything additional to the fiscus,” she said.
“But then we see wastage through the Madlanga commission. That commission was not necessary—I mean, spending more than R147 million on a report that will be given to the executive, especially the president, who is also implicated in a number of issues?”
She further urged Ramaphosa to fire police minister Senzo Mchunu, who remains on special leave, arguing that the country could not afford “two police ministers” at once.
“The country is spending a lot. I hope sanity will prevail, especially with the president. Stop this process of the Madlanga Commission and just remove Minister Mchunu. At the end of the day, this report by the ad hoc committee of Parliament is the report that will have to be implemented by the country,” she said.
No stranger to binding powers
Mkhwebane is no stranger to the binding powers of Parliament. She was impeached in September 2023 after a parliamentary vote found her guilty of misconduct and incompetence during her tenure as public protector.
A total of 318 members voted for her removal from office, while 43 voted against and one abstained.
Her removal followed years of legal battles, court defeats, and controversy over politically sensitive investigations—making her the first head of a Chapter 9 institution ever dismissed through impeachment.
She later joined the EFF as a member of Parliament and defected to MKP, where she had to fight off her contender for the provincial leadership crown, Mary Phadi, who was ousted following a numbing court order that nullified her membership to the party.
Caption: Former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane believes in the parliamentary ad hoc committee’s work in uncovering the truth.
