DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen said yesterday the party has written to Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, to request a hearing to consider the removal of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The Public Protector can be removed by Parliament on a finding of ‘misconduct, incapacity or incompetence’ and two thirds of the National Assembly must support the vote, notes a Business Day report. The DA’s latest request to have her removed follows a damning judgment by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on Monday, which reviewed and set aside Mkhwebane’s report on the Gupta-linked Vrede Dairy Farm Project and declared it unconstitutional and invalid. The court also declared that in investigating and reporting on the matter, Mkhwebane had failed in her duties under the Public Protector Act and the Constitution. ‘This is but one example in a long list of Mkhwebane’s failures in her role as Public Protector,’ Steenhuisen said. The DA failed to have her removed earlier this year when the majority of members of Parliament’s Justice Committee voted against the request. ‘Over the past three years, Mkhwebane compromised the integrity of the Office of the Public Protector by showing a poor understanding of both the law as well as of her own powers. In addition to this, she has also brought the independence of her office into question,’ Steenhuisen said. Judge Ronel Tolmay said in her judgment in the Vrede matter this week said Mkhwebane ignored information at her disposal and lacked understanding of the law. The judge said there seemed to be no ‘logical and legitimate explanation’ for narrowing the scope of the investigation. She said Mkhwebane had failed to properly investigate three complaints – a report by the Treasury, as well as the information that had arisen out of the leaked e-mails.