Former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane resigned from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a year after she joined the party. After joining the party, she was appointed as an EFF Member Of Parliament and served as its representative on the justice and constitutional development committee. Her resignation from the party, led by Julius Malema, comes after a series of resignations by EFF party members, including co-founder Floyd Shivambu.

????Media Alert: Rumours by SABC news about me leaving @EFFSouthAfrica are fake news.
I will never betray the fighters my political home pic.twitter.com/1vTK87ZpoE

— Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane (@AdvBMkhwebane) August 15, 2024

FAREWELL

Two months ago, Mkhwebane said that the rumour that she was leaving the party was fake news and that she would never leave her political home. "I will never betray the fighters my political home," she tweeted in August. In her resignation letter to the party, Mkhwebane said the past seven years made her realise that their fight for freedom was in vain.

"There was never a time when I felt my rights had been violated as it had been done in the years when I was the South African Public Protector,' Mkhwebane wrote in the letter to EFF leadership. "This continued even after I was unconstitutionally removed by Parliament and by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa," he said. She added that she felt she was let down by the judiciary, Parliament and especially the mainstream media, whom she said, seem to have been tasked to target and attack her character. "Each step seemed more daunting than the last, and I found my strength dwindling. This is exactly what they wanted, to suffocate, humiliate and treat me as less of a human being,' Mkhwebane added.

REMOVAL

Mkhwebane was removed as a Public Protector in 2023 after a Parliamentary decision was taken to impeach her. She has since lost several court battles, the most recent being her failed attempt to force the government to pay her a R10 million gratuity. "My sin was delivering reports and findings against certain individuals, who were offended and felt I had to be dealt with harshly. My family was attacked and my mother, who later passed away, never knew peace after journalists harassed her. I survived many attempts where there were plans to take my life,' she concluded in her letter. EFF has not responded to Mkhwebane's resignation.

https://twitter.com/AdvBMkhwebane/status/1845425447321927704