Cape Town - The second witness to testify on behalf of suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has told the enquiry into her fitness to hold office that previous evidence about Mkhwebane’s work ethic and leadership style was a gross misrepresentation of the situation at the PPSA.
PPSA Western Cape investigator Mulao Lamula, who had previously worked with Mkhwebane at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), said Mkhwebane demonstrated a skill for whittling down a heavy work backlog at the DHA and used the same skills at the PPSA.
Led in evidence by Mkhwebane’s senior counsel Dali Mpofu, Lamula testified that while dealing with such heavy backlogs could be “intimidating and scary” people got used to it as they went along.
With respect to previous evidence about how Mkhwebane ran the office through “threats and intimidation” Lamula said he disagreed.
Mpofu said previous witnesses testified that they felt victimised because there were unreasonable deadlines set and also about Mkhwebane’s leadership style.
For instance, in evidence given in August by PPSA investigations manager Ponatshego Mogaladi, she testified that she felt victimised when the PP threatened her with disciplinary action after failing to meet various report deadlines.
Mogaladi said at the time she was being threatened she was going through traumatic circumstances due to the death of an immediate family member.
Asked by Mpofu what he knew of the previous witness, South African Roadies Association (Sara) president and founder Freddie Nyathela, Lamula said he knew Nyathela as a regular and very resilient complainant at the PPSA.
Evidence leader Nazreen Bawa SC, asked Lamula questions of clarity about what sort of work interactions he had with Mkhwebane when they both worked at the DHA.
During her time there Mkhwebane was a departmental director and he said he did not report directly to her but this did not mean they had no interactions.
As the first witness to testify on behalf of Mkhwebane, Nyathela told the committee about the “game changing” moment when Mkhwebane’s intervention rescued his organisation’s venue.
Nyathela gave testimony about a complaint Sara lodged with the PPSA under two previous PPs, advocates Lawrence Mushwana and Thuli Madonsela; he said his matter was finally resolved after 11 years when Mkhwebane took the helm of the PPSA.
Nyathela, who was being led in his evidence to the committee on Wednesday by Mkhwebane’s senior counsel Dali Mpofu, said his breakthrough “magic moment” came four months after Mkhwebane was appointed when she agreed to meet with him and hear his complaint.
He said he did not know Mkhwebane and had no expectations when he wrote to her in January 2017 asking for a meeting where he could explain his problem with the NAC.
He testified that what Mkhwebane said to him at the meeting would stay with him for the rest of his life.
“As I briefed the public protector, what struck me were her words. She said: ‘I get you. This (project) is not about you but about our children and grandchildren’.
“Tears came out of my eyes and I would have been happy even if the whole process had ended there.”
He said the meeting gave him hope and courage. After the release of the public protector’s report, the case was referred by Sara to the Hawks who reviewed the report and opened up a case against the then NAC chief executive.
Sara is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the advancement of skills and knowledge among the youth in the technical sector of sound and production.
Nyathela said Mkhwebane's intervention resulted in Sara’s venue being properly renovated and handed over in February 2022.
He testified about being unhappy at the handover, because Mkhwebane couldn’t attend as she was busy appearing before the enquiry.
When evidence leader Nazreen Bawa took over Nyathela’s questioning, she asked him about the charges Mkhwebane faced before the committee on the Vrede Dairy or the Reserve Bank issue. He said he knew nothing about those matters.
Nyathela told Bawa that as far as his case was concerned Mkhwebane was fully competent.
The enquiry will take a day off today (Friday) and resume proceedings on Monday.