Johannesburg – Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Thursday stuck to her guns that her office would not be accepting foreign donor funding anymore and that the “State Capture” report would only be made public once it was no longer sub judice.
“I am not comfortable with foreign donors, and we will do away with it. It is common knowledge that sometimes there is a tendency to be influenced to doing something you do not agree with when you are funded,” Mkhwebane said.
Speaking during her first media briefing since taking office, Mkhwebane reiterated her call for wholesale changes in the Public Protector’s office, including doing away with the use of consultants, placing a moratorium on international travel, and using simple titles in her reports.
“The tension regarding naming was taken when we met with management, it was not about parliament perception. We will do away with how reports are named to prevent tension with the state,” Mkhwebane said.
Mkhwebane said she would continue investigating abuse of power without fear, favour or prejudice using the rule of law, saying that she was unfazed by rumours of her being a spy.
“Advocate Madonsela managed to strengthen our constitutional democracy and acted without fear or favour. I was also accused of being a spy, the same as Madonsela. It’s a perception and people will draw their own conclusions. I will do my job without any fear or favour,” she said.
She also said she would not like to comment or speculate about whether Madonsela had rushed to release the report as she did not know if it was a preliminary or final report, saying she had not seen it since it was under lock and key.
“Prioritizing (the) State Capture report will depend on decision of the courts. I will be consulting with our attorneys as to whether to oppose or abide by high court decision,” Mkhwebane said.
“For now, the report is preserved. I received it from the Speaker of Parliament in a sealed envelope and (it is being) kept locked in a safe of the head of our legal services and we will keep it until such a time we can engage on it.”
The “State Capture” report, an investigation into whether the Gupta family had any influence over President Jacob Zuma in appointing and removing Cabinet ministers, was compiled by Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela.
Madonsela decided not to release the report after Zuma launched a court application against her last week seeking an interdict to stop her from making the report public.
Cooperative Governance Minister Des van Rooyen launched a separate application challenging Madonsela’s right to summons him.
Their applications will be heard in early November.
Mkhwebane also said her office would make sure that parliament and government provided enough resources for it to do its work, promising to take the office to grassroots levels.
She appealed for parliament’s support to address the institution’s challenges of funding, human resource capacity and office space.
Mkhwebane said one of the challenges at the Public Protector’s office was low staff morale.
“I have yet to meet staff in the nine offices in the nine regions where our offices are to address issues of low staff morale. But I know that some of the issues relate to juniors earning more than managers for example,” Mkhwebane said.
Mkhwebane also said she would be working to clear the backlog of cases in her office and that her office was obliged to investigate cases and report within 80 days.
African News Agency