“You’ve got the power now. You can use it. But you’ll pay one day.”
These were the words of Advocate Dali Mpofu during the Section 194 Inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe’s Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.
Mpofu was addressing the chairperson of the inquiry, Qubudile Dyantyi.
‘It is not a threat, it’s a promise’
When Dyantyi asked if Mpofu was threatening him, the advocate replied, “Ja.”
“Actually, it is not a threat. It is a promise,” Mpofu said.
The heated exchange was sparked after Mpofu tried to get a postponement for Tuesday’s hearing.
He said Mkhwebane would not be appearing at the hearing because she was sick and had gone to her doctor.
This followed Mpofu’s earlier request for a postponement being denied. He said he wanted a postponement so he could work on court papers after he lodged an urgent application at the Western Cape High Court. He said he had been working long hours in the last few days after the court’s decision to overturn President Cyril Ramaphosa’s suspension of Mkhwebane.
ALSO READ: Mpofu ‘should know better’, says legal expert on his argument during Mkhwebane’s impeachment hearing
Mpofu threatens Dyantyi
When his request was denied, Mpofu lost his cool.
“The only reason I’m tolerating what you’re doing to me is for the interest of the client, otherwise you’re not entitled to abuse me like you’re abusing me.”
“I’m senior to you on many ways, not just in age… you know it.”
ALSO READ: ‘Criticism is fine, but insults are unwelcomed’ – Mpofu on JSC interviews
Mpofu’s application for Dyantyi’s recusal
This is not the first time Mkhwebane’s lawyer has had a run-in with the chair of her impeachment inquiry.
In August, Mpofu told Parliament that he may apply for the recusal of Dyantyi.
He threatened this after another rescission application by Mkhwebane was dismissed by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
The Public Protector had filed a second rescission application in a bid to reverse the ConCourt’s ruling which cleared the way for the impeachment process against her to go ahead.
The ConCourt also ordered Mkhwebane to pay the costs of the application in her personal capacity, after finding that her legal bid constituted an abuse of court processes.
Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa
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