South Africa Court Finds Public Protector Was Biased in Absa Report

by Dramelin 4:00 AM 0 comments

South Africa’s anti-graft ombudsman doesn’t understand her constitutional duty and was biased in her report on Barclays Group Africa Ltd.
’s Absa unit’s acquisition of Bankorp, the High Court said.
The 2017 report stated Absa owed the state more than 1 billion rand ($86 million) after it unduly benefited from government support when it bought Bankorp from Sanlam Ltd.
after the South African Reserve Bank helped keep the lender afloat in the days before apartheid ended.
The Public Protector also proposed changing the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate, a bid scrapped by the High Court in August.
The remedial action is “unlawful” and “there is a reasonable apprehension of bias,” the Pretoria High Court said Friday in a judgment which set aside Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report.
“It transpired that the Public Protector does not fully understand her constitutional duty to be impartial and to perform her functions without fear, favor or prejudice.
” The court ordered Mkhwebane’s office to pay Absa’s legal costs for the application and said she should cover 15 percent of the central bank’s expenses personally.
Mkhwebane was appointed late in 2016 for a seven-year term, replacing the well-regarded Thuli Madonsela.
The Public Protector can be removed from office on grounds of misconduct, incapacity or incompetence, according to the constitution.
“The Public Protector did not conduct herself in a manner which should be expected from a person occupying the office,” the court said.
“She did not have regard thereto that her office requires her to be objective, honest and to deal with the matters according to the law and that a higher standard is expected from her.
” — With assistance by Arabile Gumede.