Court: Mkhwebane's findings on Ramaphosa's BOSASA saga unlawful
- Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has seemingly come off second best in court once more
- It was found that Mkhwebane was reaching outside of her jurisdiction when she took President Cyril Ramaphosa on over his BOSASA donation
- With the Public Protector facing removal proceedings, this loss comes at an inconvenient time for Mkhwebane
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!
The court has sided with President Cyril Ramaphosa over his controversial R500 000 BOSASA donation.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's adverse findings in the matter were declared unlawful and subsequently set aside.
Ramaphosa had claimed that Mkhwebane had acted outside of her jurisdiction when she released her report on the matter.
While Mkhwebane has the power to investigate any matter of her choosing, her jurisdiction only covers the public domain.
With the payment in question originating in the private sector, despite being paid over to Ramaphosa's CR17 presidential campaign, Mkhwebane had reached beyond her scope.
The finding that the campaign had been implicated in money-laundering was 'not based on any evidence at all' according to Judge Matojane, who said her suspicion of State Capture was 'inexplicable'.
Mkhwebane was found to have used the wrong law to find the campaign may be implicated in money-laundering.
The law in question has nothing to do with money-laundering, which is the deliberate “cleaning” of the proceeds of crime through multiple accounts.
READ ALSO: Ramaphosa challenges Mkhwebane: Explain 'unlawfully obtained' emails
The High Court had further found that Ramaphosa had no obligation to declare donations received by his CR17 campaign in Parliament. It also found no evidence that Ramaphosa had personally benefited from the donations.
Briefly.co.za reported that former DA leader Mmusi Maimane had filed a complaint about the donation with Mkhwebane.
This had come after Ramaphosa had retracted an answer given to a question posed by Maimane over the donation.
The president had corrected the initial response in a letter sent to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise, confirming the R500 000 had been made to his campaign.
Mkhwebane's report on the matter had found Ramaphosa had deliberately misled Parliament, something the court disagreed with on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance is spearheading the motion to have Mkhwebane removed from the office of the Public Protector.
The opposition party is adamant that Mkhwebane has proven herself incompetent and the most recent court finding has added fuel to that fire.
In an unprecedented move, Parliament will now be considering the evidence that may well lead to Mkhwebane's ousting.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
