The EFF says Monday's Constitutional Court (Concourt) ruling against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is not an indictment on all her reports and must be viewed in isolation and dealt with on its own merits.

The highest court in South Africa ordered Mkhwebane to personally pay 15% of the South African Reserve Bank's legal fees in the Absa/Bankorp matter.

The EFF welcomed the ruling, saying the Concourt, as the apex court in the land which has the final say on legal disputes, "must be respected and its judgments adhered to". 

In the judgment, handed down by Justice Sisi Khampepe, it concluded Mkhwebane had put forward a "number of falsehoods" during litigation by the Reserve Bank against her 2017 report in which she recommended Absa pay back R1.2bn of an apartheid-era bailout. 

She also recommended the Reserve Bank's scope be widened to include economic growth. 

However, the EFF cautioned against seeing this judgment as a blemish on the Office of the Public Protector.

"Each of the reviews of the Public Protector's reports must be dealt with on its own merits," said its spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. "This single judgment does not mean all the Public Protector's reports are to be ignored and dismissed."

Reacting to the judgment, Mkhwebane raised concerns the ruling would set a precedent for herself and future Public Protectors who will be concerned about personal cost orders when making findings, Fin24 reported earlier. 

She also rejected the court's finding that she was dishonest under oath. 

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