Johannesburg - A Gupta-aligned candidate to succeed advocate Thuli Madonsela as public protector has fallen off the list following the shortlisting of candidates in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Civil-society group Corruption Watch had exposed some of the candidates during the objection period on the initial 64 names, before they were chopped down to 14 candidates to be interviewed next month.
Linda Mabaso’s name was objected to because of her links with the Guptas.
Also dropped from the list was the former head of the police’s Detection Unit, Godfrey Lebeya, who had testified in the trial of suspended crime intelligence chief Richard Mdluli.
Another candidate, Malcolm Nhleko, withdrew his name after it was discovered he had been charged with corruption in a trial.
Corruption Watch director David Lewis told The Star on Wednesday after Parliament had concluded its business of shortlisting 14 candidates that they would continue to investigate the candidates.
The initial job of raising objections to some of the names, including Mabaso, was not the last one.
Lewis noted that the shortlisted candidates would face similar scrutiny.
“We are satisfied with the way the process was managed, but it does not mean we agree with every candidate who has been shortlisted,” he added.
“We will do a deeper investigation on some of the people,” he said of the remaining 14 candidates on the list.
Corruption Watch would dig into the links and past of the 14 people in the running to succeed Madonsela.
The race to succeed her heated up after MPs initially squabbled over the documents and information received on the candidates.
But prosecutor Willie Hofmeyr received backing from all members of the ad hoc committee.
Judge Siraj Desai of the Western Cape High Court and Judge Sharise Weiner of the high court in Joburg were also supported by the MPs.
The other shortlisted candidates for the job include former deputy public protector Mamiki Shai and Madonsela’s current deputy, Kevin Malunga.
Malunga succeeded Shai in 2012 after the latter’s term expired.
The director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, will also be interviewed by the panel of MPs next month after she was shortlisted.
Other candidates who made the cut on Wednesday were attorney Busi Mkhwebane, advocate Michael Mthembu, Sharise Weiner, Jill Oliphant, Bongani Majola, Muvhango Lukhaimane, Chris Mokoditwa and Narnia Bohler-Muller.
Political Bureau