The DA wants current public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane axed from the post, saying her conduct, including her release of controversial reports that have been successfully challenged in court, calls into question her fitness for the office.

On Tuesday chief whip John Steenhuisen said the DA's submission of the draft rules followed last week's meeting of parliament's portfolio committee on justice and correctional services to discuss the party's May request to consider Mkhwebane's removal.

The committee resolved to refer the matter back to the speaker’s office so that the programming and rules committee could set down rules to guide the process to be followed.

"The decision by the committee accords with a legal opinion obtained by the DA that advised this same course of action, in order to ensure legal and procedural certainty to all parties involved and protect the integrity of the process," Steenhuisen said in a statement.

"The DA considers the removal of Advocate Mkhwebane to be a matter of great urgency. We opposed her appointment from the start, and she has since then demonstrated that she is not a fit and proper person to occupy the office of public protector."

Mkhwebane denies any wrongdoing, saying her detractors are out to remove her under the guise of her incompetence in retaliation for her release of unfavourable reports against politicians "seen by some as paragons of virtue".

ANA