Mkhwebane: I will not seek positions in the EFF

Former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has joined the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Mkhwebane, who has been a subject of scrutiny since taking over the chapter nine institution, and recently unseated through a parliamentary process, will form part of the third largest political party in the country. 

Reading a statement in front of a gallery Mkhwebane declared that she would not be seeking any power position in the party.

ALSO READ: Former Public Protector Mkhwebane JOINS EFF

“As said out in the constitution of the EFF, I voluntarily join the EFF without motive or personal gain, and all material benefit. I understand that I am not entitled to any position or deployment. I will participate in the life of the Economic Freedom Fighters, to strive towards total emancipation of South Africa, Africa, and the oppressed of the world,” Mkhebane said. 

Mkhwebane joins the EFF hot on the heels of former cabinet spokesperson Mzanele Manyi being roped in to the party, and swearing in as a member of parliament.

Kim Heller, author of No White Lies, says the EFF has a neck for attracting “high calibre academics and professionals.”

“The former Public Protector’s announcement that she will be joining the EFF is significant.”

“Firstly this is the first political party the Advocate has joined. Secondly, it is a major win for the EFF, to have someone of her standing and qualifications – the ability of the EFF to increasingly draw in high calibre academics and professionals is a signal of the growing thought leadership of this young political party not only in South Africa but beyond. Thirdly, it provides a strong boost for the EFF ahead of the 2024 election where the poor leadership of the ANC is increasingly omnipresent. 

“For Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who is now a branch member of the EFF, she looks set to continue her rooted, on the ground work in social justice, within an organisation which has placed issues of social, economic and cultural justice at the centre of the national discourse in South Africa,” said Heller.   

ALSO READ: ‘Injustice’: Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane to challenge her dismissal

THE AXING OF FORMER PUBLIC PROTECTOR BUSISIWE MKHWEBANE

In July 2022, the Committee for Section 194 Enquiry began its hearings into PP’s fitness to hold office. In the following 14 months, an intensive, sometimes seemingly chaotic meeting saw members of parliament, and lawyers alike present their case for or against Mkhwebane’s expulsion.

Mkhwebane had seen numerous of her reports and findings overturned in courts not limited to any province in South Africa – most notably in 2019 – the Constitutional Court found that she acted dishonestly in her investigation of the Apartheid-era loan between ABSA and The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb). 

Her troubles would not stop there, as the Pretoria High Court annulled the public protector’s findings investigating the alleged South African Revenue Service’s “rogue” unit. Mkhwebane then saw her CR17 investigation into president Cyril Ramaphosa’s election campaign suffer the same fate, which opened the glaring door towards the hearing, and subsequent suspension. 

Throughout her tenure Mkhwebane enjoyed much of the EFF’s support.

ALSO READ: Busisiwe Mkhwebane to open a case over leaked ‘compromising’ text