Parliament – In an interview for the post of Public Protector, Judge Siraj Desai on Thursday refused to be drawn directly on whether he thought President Jacob Zuma in person was guilty of any wrongdoing in the Nkandla scandal.
The question came from Floyd Shivambu, the chief whip of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who brought the Constitutional Court case that delivered the ruling that Zuma should reimburse the state for money misspent on his private home, and confirmed the binding nature of findings on the part of the Public Protector.
“There was quite clearly wrongdoing on the face of that judgment, wrongdoing certainly by national government,” Desai responded.
Earlier, Desai had ventured that the Constitutional Court’s pronouncement in the Nkandla case had strengthened the standing of the office of the Public Protector.
“The judgment of the Constitutional Court makes it far more powerful.”
The 65-year-old judge faced a barrage of critical questions from the opposition, who believe that he is the African National Congress’s (ANC) favourite to succeed Thuli Madonsela out of 14 shortlisted candidates.
Desai became visibly irate at some points in the hour-long interview, prompting Shivambu to point out that Madonsela routinely had to contend with insults, notably being called a CIA agent, as her findings against state entities earned her enemies.
“I don’t think you have the temperament to handle that,” Shivambu said.
Desai agreed that he should not have taken offense.
He described himself as an excellent candidate at the end of an introductory submission to the ad hoc parliamentary committee interviewing candidates, which he began by stressing his struggle credentials.
“I have been an activist for almost four decades,” Desai said, before describing his childhood in District 6 and saying it shaped his world view.
“I was in standard seven when District 6 was declared a white area. I saw the disintegration of the community which impacted on my entire life.”
He said once he completed high school, being Coloured prevented him from continuing his studies in the Western Cape, but being forced for that reason to attend university in Durban resulted in meeting Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko, who influenced his views.
Desai said if the nominated him to the National Assembly for appointment, he would view it as his task to turn the office of the Public Protector into a “pillar of democracy”.
The Democratic Alliance peppered him with questions about his poor health, allegations of sexual assault brought against him in India in 2004 and reports of frequent clashes with peers in the legal profession.
The DA’s Werner Horn suggested that Desai changed his account of events in Mumbai that led to the complaint to the Indian police that was later withdrawn, and had therefore, on at least one version, “lied”.
Desai countered that a statement leaked to the press by Indian police had been wrongly attributed to him.
“It is an absolute lie to suggest that I changed my version. I was acting on legal advice right from the beginning… Any criticism of me on that Mumbai incident, is based on speculation,” he added.
In response to the DA’s questions about arguments with colleagues, including Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and Judge John Foxcroft, Desai said: “I have never been a popular judge.”
Turning to his tearoom spat with Foxcroft, who sent cleric and United Democratic Front luminary Allan Boesak to prison for fraud, Desai said he had silently listened how several white judges congratulated Foxcroft after the sentence.
He said Foxcroft then remarked to him, who had several times defended Boesak when he was targeted by the apartheid regime over his political activism, “Your former client is a very arrogant man”.
At this, Desai said he became angry and told Foxcroft that the real problem was the “arrogance of the white middle class”.
DA MP Phumzile van Damme asked Desai whether his health problems would not hamper his ability to head the chapter nine institution.
Desai quipped that he was a socialist and therefore determined to die “with my boots on”. He said he had fully recovered from leukemia and though he had diabetes and shingles, his doctor had told him that his health should not be a problem.
African News Agency