by Chelsea Geach
Cape Town - Fifty-nine names have been revealed as the candidates to step into Thuli Madonsela’s shoes as the next public protector.
From well-known personalities to unknowns, one of the candidates on the list will shoulder the responsibility of investigating government misconduct when Madonsela steps down in October.
Independent Media revealed on Friday that Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai was one of the candidates. Desai has served on the bench for 21 years and was nominated by at least three senior lawyers.
EFF national chairman Advocate Dali Mpofu is also on the list. Mpofu represented Marikana miners in the commission of inquiry and was elected vice-chairman of the Johannesburg Bar Council.
Advocate Hishaam Mohamed is a candidate with 20 years experience of heading up the Justice Department in the Western Cape.
Senior professor in the University of Cape Town’s law faculty Pierre de Vos is also a candidate, with attorney Janine Myburgh, who serves on the council of the Cape Law Society and is president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The list also features politician Phillip Dexter, known for leaving the ANC for Cope, then defecting to the ANC after three yearrs and Riaz Saloojee, known for being axed then reinstated as chief executive of state-owned arms manufacturing company Denel.
Parliament’s ad hoc committee chairwoman, Makhosi Khoza, said nearly all the candidates met the minimum requirements as set out by the Public Protector Act.“The committee is very impressed with the calibre of nominees and applicants,” Khoza said. “There is some emphasis placed on legal qualifications, but it’s not exclusive.”
Now, it’s over to the public to comb through the CVs on Parliament’s website and submit their comments before next Friday.
“What we are expecting from the public is for them to raise any comments, objections or any issues the ad hoc committee must take into account when short-listing the candidates,” Khoza said. “But they must disclose who they are to authenticate their comments.”
Khoza, who is an ANC member, said chairing the committee had been a difficult job, because some had cast aspersions on her ability to find a robust and objective public protector rather than a puppet for the ruling party.
“I am not a pushover. I am overseeing the process, but ultimately it will be the National Assembly’s decision,” Khoza said.
“Ultimately the person who emerges out of this process will have to find his or her own moral compass and decide, am I going to allow myself to be a puppet or am I going to be the public protector.”
Seventy-three names were put forward to the committee, either as an application from the candidates or through a nomination by a member of the public. Of these, nine declined their nominations, including Graça Machel, former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, former NPA head Vusi Pikoli and Advocate Gerrie Nel.
Four could not be contacted to confirm their candidacy and were struck from the list.
One more name was thrown out of the running: Madonsela herself who, despite being a popular choice, is by law not eligible for a second term.
What remains is the 59 people who have accepted their nomination and who will have until July 8 to complete a questionnaire while the committee begins a vetting process to ensure the candidates haven’t fudged any items on their CVs.
Khoza said they expected to conduct interviews with short-listed candidates shortly after local government elections on August 3.
* For the full list of candidates, see http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/huge-field-of-candidates-for-public-protector-2039579