[11] Mkhwebane's report into the alleged improper acceptance of a R500,000 donation to the successful ANC presidential election campaign of President Cyril Ramaphosa from BOSASA has been controversial for its findings, the supposed nature of the investigation, and the political context in which it was written.

[12] The report, which concluded, inter alia, that Ramaphosa had deliberately misled parliament when questioned about the donation, was described by the President as containing "numerous factual inaccuracies of a material nature, the findings that are found are wrong in law, are irrational and in some instances, exceed the scope of the powers of the public protector.

"[20] In June 2017, with consultation from former South African Reserve Bank (SARB) director (2003-2012), Stephen Goodson, and without consultation with government economists or legal scholars, Mkhwebane drafted changes to the Constitution to nationalize and remove the independence of the SARB and the bank's mandate to keep inflation under control; she then ordered Parliament to make those changes in the Constitution.

[35] As public protector Mkhwabane's office released a report stating that former Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan was guilty of "violating the constitution" due to alleged improper conduct regarding the early-retirement payout of a South African Revenue Service (SARS) official.

[37][38][39] In July 2019 the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa ruled that Mkhwebane's recommendation against Gordhan be suspended, pending a judicial review of Mkhwabane's report on the SARS "rogue unit".

[42][43] The company argued that Mkhwebane's office violated the separation of powers, did not follow a fair process when investigating Phumelela's case and had a large number of both factual and legal material errors.

[42][43] This judgement closely following the Constitutional Court (in the ABSA Bank/SARB case) and the Gauteng High Court (regarding Pravin Gordhan) judgements against Mkhwebane's office was seen in the media as further weakening her position as public protector and adding strength to calls by the Democratic Alliance and civil society to initiate a parliamentary review into her fitness to hold office.

[45] In November 2020 National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise appointed former Constitutional Court Judge Bess Nkabinde and senior advocates Dumisa Ntsebeza SC and Johan de Waal SC to an independent panel to consider whether there was prima facie evidence to suggest that Mkhwebane should be removed from office.

The report was handed over to parliament in February 2021, and a parliamentary spokesperson summed up its findings: "the panel concluded that there is substantial information that constitutes prima facie evidence of incompetence and examples of this included the prima facie evidence demonstrating the Public Protector's overreach and the exceeding of the bounds of her powers in terms of the Constitution and the Public Protector Act as well as repeated errors of the same kind, such as incorrect interpretation of the law.

[47][48] On 11 September 2023, following the completion of the process, the National Assembly voted to remove Mkhwebane,[49] making her the first head of a Chapter 9 institution to be impeached.

[50] Her impeachment, one month prior to the end of a 7-year non-renewable term, denied her a ten million rand gratuity that she would otherwise have been entitled to.