This is the first head of the Chapter 9 institution to face a criminal charge.

Accountability Now director Paul Hoffman brought the charge after the Constitutional Court upheld a 2019 High Court ruling that found Mkhwebane acted dishonestly during her investigation into an apartheid-era loan by the Reserve Bank to Bankorp, now part of Absa.

Her report into the matter was set aside and she lost an appeal that she personally be held liable for a portion of the Reserve Bank's legal costs.

At the same time, a Parliamentary panel is looking into the process of her possible removal.

Mkhwebane is currently on a two-month sabbatical.

eNCA