The latest legal blow against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has once again called into question the efficient functioning of her office.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Monday dismissed Mkhwebane’s application for leave to appeal a High Court ruling, which found against her report on the Vrede dairy farm matter.
In a damning judgment last year, the High Court in Pretoria declared the report unconstitutional and invalid.
The SCA dismissed Mkhwebane’s application with costs, saying it had no prospects of success.
The matter was initially brought to court by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), which had questioned the credibility of her report, noting that it had made no mention of the central figures in the scandal.
Casac’s executive secretary, Lawson Naidoo, said the last legal blow against Mkhwebane was expected.
“The High Court found great frailties in the Public Protector’s report and set it aside as being irrational and unconstitutional and we’ve always believed that there was no basis from which the Public Protector could lodge an appeal,” Naidoo said.
The Public Protector’s next move is still unclear, saying she wasn’t even aware of the judgment at the time it was made public.