Former Public Protector (PP) Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane is expected to finally go on trial on two counts of perjury in February 2026 – five years after she was first charged.

As previously reported, the case stems from allegations she perjured herself in affidavits she submitted to court about whom she met and what she spoke about before she released her controversial June 2017 report into the SARB’s bailout of Bankorp – a private commercial bank – in the mid-1980s.

News24 reports that her findings called for Absa, which took over Bankorp in 1992, to repay R1.125bn for the lifeboat provided by the central bank, which she called an ‘illegal gift’.

Her report was criticised for instructing Parliament to amend a section of the Constitution about the SARB’s mandate – something that is outside the powers of her office.

The SARB and Absa reacted by quickly seeking to review the report and set it aside.

On 15 August 2017, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) set aside her directive to Parliament to change the SARB’s mandate, saying it clearly violated the separation of powers.

In February 2018, another court set aside all other remedial actions, including that Absa must pay back the funds. This court also saddled her with a personal costs order.

Mkhwebane then took the costs order on appeal to the Constitutional Court, but her bid was unsuccessful.

Following the apex court ruling, civil society groups Accountability Now and Outa both lodged criminal complaints against her for perjury.

In December 2020, she became the first PP to be criminally charged with three counts of perjury.

News24 notes that the matter was set to be heard this week in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, but was postponed.

It will now run from 23 to 27 February 2026.

Netwerk24 reports that Mkhwebane said she wants the judges of the Constitutional Court to testify in her trial.

‘We will see if the matter proceeds next year. If it does, it would make sense that the judges of the Constitutional Court be called as witnesses. This is because they said I lied or did not speak the truth in an affidavit,’ Mkhwebane said.

If found guilty, Mkhwebane potentially faces a fine or a short period of imprisonment, possibly suspended.

She previously said she was confident a court would clear her of wrongdoing. 

Mkhwebane served as SA’s fourth PP from October 2016 until her suspension in June 2022 and subsequent impeachment in September 2023.

She later joined the EFF as an MP before resigning to join Jacob Zuma’s MKP.

Full News24 report

Full Netwerk24 report (subscription needed)