South Africa's apex court ruled Monday the country's anti-corruption ombudswoman had been "deceitful" and ordered her to pay from her own pocket part of the legal costs incurred in a row with the central bank.
Busisiwe Mkhwebane is South Africa's Public Protector -- a position with a constitutional mandate to investigate public corruption and misconduct -- but is viewed by some as an ally of graft-tainted ex-president Jacob Zuma who appointed her before he was ousted.
Cyril Ramaphosa, who succeeded Zuma as president of the ruling ANC and of the country in a divisive contest, said Sunday he would take Mkhwebane to court over a report that found he had misled parliament about a donation to his campaign fund.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court dismissed Mkhwebane's bid to scrap a 2018 High Court ruling ordering her to pay $65,000 in legal fees for a different report the judges had found to be biased.
The highest court said Mkhwebane had been "deceitful" and acted in "bad faith" in an investigation involving local bank Absa, whose predecessor Bankorp had received an illegal lifeline from the central bank during the apartheid years.
She had ordered the country's anti-graft Special Investigation Unit to recoup 1.125 billion rand (about $80 million today) from the new, democratic-era central bank.
"The Public Protector's entire model of investigation was flawed," the Constitutional Court said in its judgement.
"She was not honest about her engagement during the investigation," it found and concluded: "this type of conduct falls far short of the high standards required of her office."