Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will attempt to have perjury charges against her dropped, her spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said following her short appearance in court on Thursday.
Segalwe said the public protector would be making representations to the national director of public prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, with the aim of having the charges withdrawn.
"Our view is that these are frivolous and contrived charges. In the event the NDPP sees things differently, we will consider approaching the high court to challenge that decision," Segalwe said.
He said Mkhwebane was a law-abiding citizen who believed in the rule of law, and would continue to co-operate with authorities. She maintained her innocence and was confident she would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Mkhwebane made her first appearance in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Thursday for making false statements during legal proceedings around her report on the SA Reserve Bank's apartheid-era loan to Bankorp.
Bankorp is now part of Absa.
Her matter was postponed to March 25 to allow the court to sort out pre-trial issues.
The public protector is facing three charges of perjury after it was alleged that she lied under oath in affidavits submitted in court regarding meetings she held with former president Jacob Zuma during her investigation into the Bankorp loan.
The charges stem from a complaint laid against her by Paul Hoffman, director of nongovernmental organisation Accountability Now in 2019, and was investigated by the Hawks.
Hoffman submitted an affidavit to the police in August 2019 in which he recommended that charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice be brought against Mkhwebane.
The Constitutional Court judgment, which questioned her conduct in her investigation of the apartheid-era loan to Bankorp labelled her dishonest, among other things.
In a scathing ruling, the Constitutional Court found that she had told a “number of falsehoods” in the course of the litigation.
The perjury charges are a further setback for Mkhwebane, who has been on the receiving end of many adverse court findings and personal costs orders, and is facing a possible parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Thursday said the investigation into Mkhwebane had been completed and the state was ready for trial.
Mkhwebane is on sabbatical from the public protector's office until the end of March. Her deputy, Kholeka Gcaleka, is acting public protector until she returns.
Update: January 21 2020
This article has been updated with comment from the public protector'.
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