Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa demanding the immediate reversal of her suspension, reports TimesLIVE.

Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane with immediate effect last week, pending the outcome of an impeachment process in Parliament. Impeachment hearings are due to start on 11 July 2022.

In an eight-page letter dated 13 June, Mkhwebane described her suspension as illegal and irrational.

She demanded Ramaphosa reverse his decision to suspend her. Mkhwebane told the President that if he failed to reverse her suspension, she would refer the issue to court as a matter of urgency, without further notice to him. This, she added, was to protect her ‘violated’ constitutional and other rights as a result of Ramaphosa’s conduct in unlawfully suspending her.

Mkhwebane detailed in the letter what she regarded as irregularities in her suspension.

Mkhwebane said Ramaphosa’s decision would have a severe effect of impeding her preparation for the inquiry, adding it was in violation of her rights to fairness and full legal representation. Mkhwebane also maintained Ramaphosa had a conflict of interest in the matter and his indication that he was ‘of the view that there is no such conflict was totally irrelevant, because the test was objectivity and not subjectivity'.

Mkhwebane said that the Constitution prohibited the President from being the suspending authority in her matter due to a conflict of interest.

She said the conflict or risk thereof arises because the six investigations against him, including the latest matters of Glencore and his Phala Phala farm, all involve serious and impeachable offences.

She also rejected the speculative ‘reason’ that related to the Public Protector purportedly ‘immunising’ herself by initiating investigations against individuals she considered to be a threat, reports TimesLIVE.

‘You are no threat to me. More importantly and to your specific knowledge, all the six investigations in question were not initiated by me but came as complaints from third parties. The pending litigation regarding the unsealing of documents in the Bosasa matter is likely to have an impact on whether or not the Public Protector has jurisdiction over the CR17 funding matter, depending on the identities of the donors and the extent of your direct involvement. In any event, even if the Bosasa matter were to be discounted or totally eliminated from the equation, the numerous conflicts of interest related to the remaining five investigations remain,’ read the letter.

Full TimesLIVE report