‘A true giant’: Foundation hails Busisiwe Mkhwebane following perjury case acquittal
'They could not make her surrender her principles,' says the foundation following its patron's acquittal.
The Busisiwe Mkhwebane Foundation has expressed praise for its patron following her acquittal on all charges in a perjury case. Mkhwebane returned to Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, where the court granted her discharge application. Initially facing three counts, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew one charge in 2021.
She pleaded not guilty to the remaining two counts of perjury last month. Her legal representative described the charges as "baseless" and indicated they planned to submit a Section 174 application. That application was also granted on Wednesday. The case centers around her investigation into the Absa/Bankorp matter, where she is accused of lying under oath about her meetings with former president Jacob Zuma.
The Constitutional Court's ruling in July 2019 upheld a Pretoria High Court judgment finding Mkhwebane dishonest about those meetings in affidavits submitted to the High Court and Pretoria Regional Court in 2017 and 2018. The court also ordered her to cover 15% of the South African Reserve Bank's legal costs in the case. The Busisiwe Mkhwebane Foundation stated that while courts previously criticized aspects of Mkhwebane's conduct in the Absa/Bankorp litigation, criminal allegations must be tested in a criminal court according to the law.
The foundation highlighted Mkhwebane's resilience in facing years of political, institutional, legal, and media pressure, ultimately remaining steadfast in her principles. However, she still needs to address the Legal Practice Council's (LPC) bid to strike her from the roll of advocates, which was filed in July on 18 grounds, including allegations of dishonesty, incompetence, and bias.
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