---
title: "‘No case’ – Mkhwebane denied direct access to Constitutional Court"
description: "Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s bid for access to limitless state-funded legal costs for her impeachment inquiry has hit an iceberg."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "SECTION 194 INQUIRY"
author: "Marianne Thamm"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/mariannethamm/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-15-mkhwebane-denied-direct-access-to-constitutional-court/"
published: "2023-06-15T15:32:24"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 269
---

# ‘No case’ – Mkhwebane denied direct access to Constitutional Court

> Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s bid for access to limitless state-funded legal costs for her impeachment inquiry has hit an iceberg.

By Marianne Thamm · Published 15 June 2023, 17:32 SAST

## Key points
- Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's Constitutional Court application was rejected and she must now take her funding woes to the high court, while allegations of bribery against senior ANC members remain unaddressed.
- Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya ruled against Mkhwebane's exclusive jurisdiction and direct access to the Constitutional Court.
- Mkhwebane will now have the option of approaching the high court to consider her funding woes.
- On Tuesday, Mkhwebane publicly revealed alleged bribery files involving late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
- Joemat-Pettersson died suddenly at her home in Pinelands on 5 July and her cause of death remains speculation.

## Content

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya ruled that no case had been made for exclusive jurisdiction and direct access to the Constitutional Court.

Mkhwebane had sought various urgent outcomes, including a review of committee chair Qubidile Dyantyi’s decision to continue her impeachment enquiry beyond 31 March, as well as a reversal of her suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

She also sought to confirm that a previous court order, which confirmed that the State had a legal obligation to provide Mkhwebane with legal representation, was a bottomless pot.

Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the NA had noted the ruling. Mkhwebane will now have the option of approaching the high court to consider her funding woes.

**Read more in Daily Maverick:**[Mkhwebane reaches end of the road, refuses State Attorney’s offer and is poised to reveal alleged bribery files](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-09-mkhwebane-reaches-end-of-the-road-refuses-state-attorneys-offer-and-is-poised-to-reveal-alleged-bribery-files/)

On Tuesday, Mkhwebane, defying a request for her not to go public with alleged WhatsApps and surreptitious recordings of the late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson, did so nevertheless.

At a hostile media conference in a Sandton hotel, Mkhwebane blamed the NA, President Cyril Ramaphosa, the DA and the ANC for hastening Joemat-Pettersson’s death.

The suspended protector and her husband, David Skosana, allege that the senior ANC MP had approached him to solicit a bribe for herself, Dyantyi and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina to make the impeachment process “go away”.

When the plan appeared to derail, Skosana informed Joemat-Pettersson that he was going public and would be exposing them all.

Joemat-Pettersson died suddenly at her home in Pinelands on 5 July. Her cause of death remains speculation at this stage. **DM**