Suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has vowed to fight to the end against the people who want her dismissed from her job.
Speaking during a media briefing at the Premier Hotel in Midrand on Thursday, Mkhwebane said the constitution is on her side.
“I vow to fight these dark forces to the bitter end and beyond. They cannot be allowed to prevail by pretending to act in terms of the constitution when that is clearly not the case,” said Mkhwebane.
Regarding the Section 194 parliamentary committee report which recommends that she be removed from office, Mkhwebane said the committee decided to adopt the report knowing that she did not have legal representation to help her go through the draft.
It will be a matter of life and death for her, she told the media briefing.
“As I have always said, in the process of fighting them, if I perish, I perish.”
She said she plans to challenge the report in a court of law.
“We are finalising the strategy on whether to interdict while reviewing or lodge a review application,” she added.
Mkhwebane also said that she will not allow her name to be abused for political and racist agendas, noting that those issues are not related to the constitution’s intentions.
“A related matter that needs to be addressed is the extent to which all the illegalities in this process have been caused by the unholy alliance between the DA and the ANC.”
From the onset when the DA lodged the alleged complaint in this matter, she said, it counted on the ANC to automatically support the scheme.
In a shocking twist of events, Mkhwebane’s lawyers received a letter from the state attorney’s office while the media briefing was in progress.
The letter stated that her legal representatives were no longer paid by the Office of the Public Protector.
In the letter which we have seen, the state attorney said it was advised by the public protector’s office to stop funding Mkhwebane’s legal costs.
The funding was only limited to the Section 194 enquiry, and she no longer needed legal funding outside the parameters of the enquiry.
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