President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected an ultimatum by Busisiwe Mkhwebane to reverse her suspension as Public Protector and signalled that he would oppose any attempt to overturn it in court, reports the Mail & Guardian.

‘The decision stands and remains valid and binding,’ he said in a letter sent in reply to hers giving him until late Tuesday afternoon to lift the suspension or face legal challenge.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the threat to take him to court but stressed that he had already been vindicated regarding his right to suspend her, when the Western Cape High Court dismissed her application for an interdict barring him from doing so.

‘You had sought to interdict me from exercising my constitutional power to suspend you on two occasions. You failed in both instances,’ he wrote.

Mkhwebane has argued that the President acted unlawfully in suspending her, having lost the power to do so because he was conflicted due to the number of investigations against him conducted by her office.

Ramaphosa said in the letter sent to her on Tuesday: ‘No purpose will be served by engaging in further debate by way of correspondence. I will oppose any application that you bring. I will also argue that in light of the two urgent applications that you have already brought, there are no grounds for a third urgent court application.’

Full Mail & Guardian report