Pretoria News - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela came under fire on Thursday from Black First Land First (BLF) members, who accused her of being captured by white monopoly capital.
The angry group, led by party leader Andile Mngxitama, marched to her office in Hatfield under police watch.
They hoisted placards on which were written slogans like “We want the R26 billion stolen by whites” and “Hands off Zuma. Economic Liberation Now!”
At the heart of their demands was the R26bn they alleged was stolen by white monopoly capital from the Reserve Bank during the apartheid era.
The group fingered big companies such as Absa, Amscor, Delta Crysler and Sanlam as beneficiaries of the alleged stolen billions.
BLF deputy national convener Zanele Lwana said the allegations were contained in a report compiled by UK-based forensic investigating company CXI.
Lwana said CXI was commissioned by the Thabo Mbeki government in 1997 to probe the alleged theft of state money.
However, according to Lwana the report was kept under wraps until it was leaked to media in 2010.
She claimed that Madonsela’s office had since launched an investigation into the alleged scam, but only the alleged theft of R3.2bn linked to Absa.
“Why does the public protector seek to narrow the investigation to only R3.2bn which implicates Absa? Such a course of action is without any justification.
“The CXI report implicated the wealthy Rupert family in crime and corruption.
“If the full R26bn is not investigated, this means that the public protector is purposely protecting the Rupert family,” she said.
Lwana said the CXI report revealed the alleged stolen money was recoverable.
On their arrival at the public protector’s office, the marchers were blocked from entering the premises by police.
They chanted and threatened to force their way in if no one was going to open the gates for them.
However, the threats by the marchers were ignored by police who stood in front of the gate to keep them at bay and prevent them from entering the office.
Deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga then attempted to address protesters, but he was stopped in his tracks. They refused to speak to him outside the premises.
They said they had not made an appointment to hand over the memorandum of grievances outside the gate.
Malunga later told the media that it was not true that the public protector was biased towards the white monopoly.
“Our investigations are a process. It is an evidence-based process in which we have to interview people,” he said.
He said the CXI report was among the reports Madonsela was hoping to release last week.
Malunga disputed the claims that the BLF was not taken seriously. “I differ with BLF when they say we prioritise white people. We take exception to accusations that we are biased,” he said.
Malunga said there were many outstanding reports such as the Mandela funeral and the Gupta-landing scandal at the Waterkloof Airport. “Because of capacity issues, we can’t obviously deliver all the reports overnight,” he said.
He challenged the BLF to share with the public protector whatever information it had in its possession about the allegedly stolen R26bn.
Malunga said he didn’t have answers to all the demands they made. He was told to phone Madonsela, who was meeting President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings as part of her investigation into the allegations that he was influenced by the Gupta family on ministerial appointments.
Madonsela was scheduled to fly to Cape Town on Thursday night, but they insisted she cancel her ticket. Malunga said: “I don’t have control over the aviation; I can’t control flights from taking off.”
Although most of the protesters left just after sunset, a group of about 15 stayed behind, saying they would hold a night vigil outside Madonsela’s office.
Pretoria News