There have definitely been worse advocates. There are almost certainly countries that have, at some point in history, had a worse public protector or equivalent official. But as yet another court described Busisiwe Mkhwebane as deliriously, cartwheelingly terrible at her job on Tuesday, South Africans had to agree we are witnessing something quite special.

In a sweeping indictment of Mkhwebane’s report into whether President Cyril Ramaphosa misled parliament about a campaign donation, the North Gauteng High Court explained the public protector’s findings were irrational and reckless, displaying “a complete lack of basic knowledge of the law and its application”, and that she had exceeded her powers and had “displayed anything but an open mind”...