THE interviews for arguably one of the most important positions in the country, that of the public protector, are scheduled to take place in Parliament today.
The Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac) notes with great concern that the schedule of interviews announced by Parliament’s ad hoc committee will see it sit from 7am until midnight. It is intended that all 14 shortlisted candidates will be interviewed today.
This punishing schedule brings into question the effectiveness of the ad hoc committee in executing its mandate – will committee members be equally alert and vigilant at the end of the day as they are at the beginning?
This will undoubtedly have an impact on the integrity of the process and on whether all candidates are treated fairly and equally.
Committee chairperson Dr Makhosi Khoza, in seeking to justify holding all interviews on one day, says: “The rationale behind this is to ensure that candidates do not have unfair advantage over others, as these interviews will be broadcast live.”
Does the committee therefore intend to hold candidates in a secure room without contact with the outside world as they await their interviews?
This would effectively mean that the person scheduled to be interviewed at 11pm will be kept waiting from 7am!
If the intention was to dispose of all the interviews in one day, the committee ought to have shortlisted no more than seven or eight candidates.
Instead, having initially agreed to shortlist 10 candidates, the committee has actually "shortlisted" 14, and thereby created this crisis.
The quest to find a fit and proper person to take on the mantle of public protector must itself follow a fit and proper process.
By insisting on cramming the interviews into one day, the committee and Parliament are compromising the process. They also undermine the role that civil society has played to date in monitoring and making constructive contributions to the process. The committee has a duty to ensure meaningful public participation in the process.
Does the committee expect that members of the public and civil society who are interested in this matter also sit up until midnight, ignoring their family and personal responsibilities?
The presence of the TV cameras and the live broadcast of the proceedings should not lead to our eyes being so wide open that we do not recognise the fundamental flaws in the process.
Casac calls on the Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the ad hoc committee to urgently review and revise the schedule to ensure that candidates can be properly questioned and scrutinised to enable a fit and proper person to be identified to fill this critical position in our constitutional architecture.
Lawson Naidoo
Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac)