Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has unreservedly apologised for wrongly accusing Judge Sulet Potterill of deliberately omitting words of the Executive Ethics Code, in a ruling she gave in favour of Pravin Gordhan.
But Mkhwebane nevertheless insisted the 15% personal costs order granted against her by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for, among other things, her "shockingly inappropriate" personal attack on Potterill was unwarranted, and part of a "tendency" by that court to grant such orders against her.
"This tendency points to a worrying trend and legitimate concerns of institutionalised judicial bias against the Public Protector particularly in the North Gauteng High Court," Mkhwebane's lawyers argued in an appeal application due to be heard on Friday.
