Cape Town – The National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC) has decided to separate the votes on the removal of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and the appointment of her successor, Kholeka Gcaleka.
Initially scheduled for the same day, these votes will now occur on different dates, News24 reported.
The voting will take place using the roll call voting system, where each member must personally indicate their vote.
The ANC proposed this separation due to concerns about the uncomfortable venue, Cape Town City Hall, and the length of time it would take, based on the precedent set by the vote on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment over Phala Phala.
“Given the venue and its uncomfortability, the City Hall, we are proposing as the ANC, let’s consider one order paper on the day, and defer the appointment of the PP (Public Protector) to a later day,” the report quoted ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina as saying.
ALSO READ | Ramaphosa rejects Mkhwebane’s bid to return to office
Mkhwebane’s removal vote is set for September 11, while Gcaleka’s appointment is planned for September 21, at a location yet to be determined.
Meanwhile, ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula and UDM leader Bantu Holomisa have requested a secret ballot for Mkhwebane’s impeachment vote, the report said.
Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa rejected Mkhwebane’s bid to return to office, saying that the suspended Public Protector did not have the legal right to return to her office until the final decisions were made by the National Assembly’s committee established under section 194 of the constitution.
Mkhwebane had announced her intention to return to work, claiming that the suspension period defined in the presidential minute had expired.
Media Alert‼️
On 9 June 2022 the President signed a Presidential Minute recording his decision to suspend the Public Protector,Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane “pending the finalisation of the proceedings/inquiry initiated by the Committee of the National Assembly established in terms of… pic.twitter.com/FirEcfRfEQ
— Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane (@AdvBMkhwebane) September 4, 2023
“According to section 194, proceedings/inquiry has now been finalised. The period of suspension defined in the presidential minute issued in terms of section 194(3)(a), read with section 101(1) of the Constitution, has expired. Therefore, and as a matter of courtesy and protocol, advocate Mkhwebane has advised president Ramaphosa that she will be reporting back to work tomorrow morning on Tuesday 5 September 2023,” she wrote.
However, Ramaphosa contended that the committee’s proceedings were not finalised, and the National Assembly had not yet completed its part of the process.
JUST IN:
President Ramaphosa has warned suspended PP Busisiwe Mkhwebane to steer clear of the PPSA offices after she earlier threatened him that she was going to return to work today.
In his letter, he states that she is misinterpreting the law and remains suspended. pic.twitter.com/CfHMUcMtHX— Ismail Abramjee (@IsmailAbramjee) September 5, 2023
“Your letter states that you were advised on 24 August 2023 that the Committee had completed its part of the process, and that its report would be tabled in the National Assembly. You waited until today to inform me of your intention to return to office tomorrow. Such precipitate action is unjustified on any basis.
“I do not answer all of the remaining allegations in your letter, and my failure to do so should not be understood as indicating that I agree with them. I do not,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane in June last year.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
