What Busisiwe Did Next

The new public protector caused controversy, dismay and disbelief with her first major report. Here experts assess her actions

- Gabisile Ngcobo

SHE stepped into the office of one of South Africa’s biggest heroes, a woman who fearlessly exposed corruption and skullduggery in the corridors of power. So all eyes were on Busisiwe Mkhwebane when she was named Thuli Madonsela’s successor: would she take up the baton and continue to fight for fairness and transparency?

After less than a year as public protector, Mkhwebane seems to be pursuing quite a different agenda to Madonsela’s.

Even before her appointment she was accused of being a government spy and a favourite of President Jacob Zuma. Her first 100 days in office saw a purge of Madonsela’s staff, a failure to defend the former public protector’s state capture report and public criticism of her predecessor.

Now her first major report has stirred even more controversy – and allegations that Mkhwebane is more Gupta puppet than champion of the poor and investigator in justice.

Her report on Absa Bank’s apartheidera loan from the Reserve Bank was met with criticism and disbelief by political commentators, economists and opposition parties alike.

To top it all, Mkhwebane is seeking to change the constitution to remove the Reserve Bank’s function of keeping inflation under control, and would change the function of the central bank – a move that saw the rand lose value.

We look at what’s been going on and ask experts what they make of it all.

THE ABSA BAILOUT BILLIONS 

The public protector investigated an apparent failure by the government to recover R1,125 billion lent to Bankorp Limited, now Absa, by the Reserve Bank on the authority of the apartheid government.