Mkhwebane says she was truthful under oath
Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she never told falsehoods under oath. The Public Protector has been reacting to this morning's Constitutional Court judgement - in which she lost her appeal of a high court personal cost order.
Two years ago, Mkhwebane found the Reserve Bank and government had failed to recover a R1.1-billion loan that was given to Absa's predecessor Bankorp in an apartheid-era bailout.
Her findings were set aside after the Reserve Bank, the Finance Minister and others took her report on review.
Justice Sisi Khampepe read the judgement, which found Mkhwebane was dishonest.
"The Public Protector put forward a number of falsehoods in the cause of litigation - including misrepresenting under oath before the high court that the economic analysis that underpinned the final report was based on expert economic advice whereas this was false as the report was not based on expert economic advice. In this court, the Public Protector's various explanations of her conduct was contradictory," Khampepe said.
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Speaking afterwards - Mkhwebane said she noted the judgement and insisted she acted in good faith.
"I never told falsehoods under oath. We will study the judgement and we will also study what is the reasoning behind that because our papers were very clear what transpired during the process," Mkhwebane said.
The Reserve Bank's application for a declaratory order that Mkhwebane abused her office was also dismissed by Constitutional Court.