Editorial: Which path will ANC take?

When the parliamentary process to decide the fate of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane begins, it will not only be about whether members of Parliament are following their individual party lines or are guided by their conscience.

Also at play will be the deep division within the ANC which has been split by factions, with those supporting former president Jacob Zuma feeling left out by those aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

If anything has to be read from ANC MP Supra Mahumapelo’s comments on Friday – that the party would not support the DA’s motion to remove Mkhwebane from office – this is not going to be an objective process.

Mahumapelo was adamant that, despite several damning court judgments against Mkhwebane in which judges have made devastating comments about her fitness for office, “the Public Protector has done a sterling job”.

He said there was no way the ANC would allow her to be removed.

“It’s not going to happen, and I thought we must make it very clear, it’s not going to happen.”

In the past, ANC MPs have followed the party line to defend Zuma when motions of no confidence against him were brought to the National Assembly.

Each time they protected him and used their majority to defend the man for the Nkandlagate scandal.

However, it is different with the Mkhwebane motion.

This will test not only whether MPs follow their conscience – as the court has ruled that MPs, maybe in Parliament on the party ticket, are there to serve the country – or slavishly follow the party line.

But which party line?

The ANC is as divided about Mkhwebane as it is about subjects ranging from the independence of the Reserve Bank to the reform of state-owned enterprises, the land question and myriad other issues.

The big question here is which face the ANC will wear during this process: The face of a party that wants a strong and credible Public Protector’s office or an ANC that wants to defend an individual regardless of facts, law and the Constitution.

For South Africa this process will be a mirror of the impeachment process in the US, where the majority of Republicans have decided to stuff their consciences and oaths of office in their briefcases.

Will ANC parliamentarians do the same?

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