The South African Communist Party (SACP) on Friday called on Parliament to conduct an inquiry into Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.

This follows the release of her report which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa deliberately misled Parliament relating to a R500 000 donation from Bosasa for his CR17 campaign for the presidency of the African National Congress.

Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, is one of the companies entangled in State capture allegations.

The SACP said while it was still going to access and evaluate Mkhwebane’s report it questioned whether the negative finding against the President was surprising.

The party said her posture indicated all along that she was destined to produce a negative finding.

“The SACP expressed its reservations a while ago about the manner in which Advocate Mkhwebane conducts herself and the affairs of the absolutely important office of the Public Protector. The material basis of the concern is found in the damning court judgments against her,” the SACP stated.  

The party added that it respected the legal and constitutional rights of the parties who were adversely affected, and said it would take its cue from the courts as the final arbiters.   

Earlier this week, SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila was embroiled in a heated exchange with Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema following the SACP’s backing of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in the matter of the so-called South African Revenue Service (SARS) "rogue unit".

Mapaila said it was extremely concerning that the discredited SARS “rogue unit” narrative was being perpetuated yet again, following the recent report by Mkhwebane.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Constitutional Court will rule on the application by Mkhwebane that she should not be held personally liable for costs related to the High Court finding that set aside her report on the South African Reserve Bank and Absa matter.