Pretoria - It looked like Advocate Thuli Madonsela was dropping the mic. “To my successor - I’m out,” she said. “And that’s it. Just like that.” The assortment of journalists who had packed the room laughed, urging her to pick up the mic.
It was the outgoing public protector’s final press conference on her last day in office and she spent it fielding questions from reporters ranging from her own opinion of President Jacob Zuma, which she dodged, to her next career move. She is going on a sabbatical.
On her successor, Busi Mkhwebane, she advised: “I truly believe we come to these positions, bringing pieces of ourselves. Your success stories will depend on what you’ve always done in your life. She just has to bring pieces of herself and join… this magnificent team and focus on the purpose of this office.”
Her office was not only about the “Nkandla legacy”, she said, explaining that the greatest motivation was resolving issues that couldn’t be resolved by the courts, for ordinary South Africans.
She doesn’t have political ambitions, but has always worked to “help people engage proper democratic principles. That I will continue to do, but have no plans to be an office-bearer.”
Her entire career was focused on protecting the public and being an advocate for social justice. “My institution is grossly underfunded. When the dust has settled, people will agree I did what I had to.”
During her tenure, she had never lied to the government because that would have “led the authorities towards a cliff”. She did not want to speak of her personal views regarding the actions of Zuma, particularly in relation to her state capture probe.
“I don’t want to comment on whether the president is operating on the basis of good faith or not. That would be casting aspersions on him. All I said is that we had made arrangements to meet and to proceed along the lines we had agreed to, and on two occasions we didn’t proceed as agreed. What happened... only the Presidency is aware.”
She noted, however, that the court action where Zuma and Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen were seeking an interdict blocking the release of the highly anticipated report could not stop her from releasing the findings of her probe on Friday. “A notice of intention to apply for an interdict is not an interdict. I decided not to release it because that is good practice.”
Madonsela revealed her final report on investigations into allegations of state capture by the wealthy Gupta family was already in the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete’s “safekeeping”.
“Clause B (of Friday’s high court ruling by Judge Dawie Fourie) says the report shall be preserved and kept in safekeeping. That is not an interim report, that is my final report,” said Madonsela.
Judge Fourie issued a “preservation order”, which means the findings of the report cannot be made public and the report has to be kept in “safekeeping”. He postponed the matter to November 1.
But Mbete said on Friday night that, according to the rules, she had to table all documents in the House with members but could not do so with this report, which the North Gauteng High Court said should not be made public pending the court applications by Zuma and Van Rooyen.
“The Speaker has an obligation in terms of the rules of the Assembly to table all documents received for the information of members, to ensure that the business of the Assembly is conducted in an open and transparent manner. This report, however, cannot be handled in the same manner. The report will accordingly be returned to the Office of the Public Protector.”
Opposition parties, including Cope, the DA, the EFF and the UDM, had joined the court case, opposing Van Rooyen’s applications to interdict Madonsela. The EFF, through its attorney Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, urged the court to compel Madonsela to release the report immediately.
The Guptas have been accused of influencing the appointment of cabinet ministers and other senior government officials in order to benefit their business concerns. Zuma, who has strong ties to the Gupta family, was seeking an interdict to halt the release of the report.
This came three days after he demanded an undertaking from Madonsela that she would not wrap up her investigation until he had been allowed to question other witnesses in the investigation.
Zuma and Van Rooyen have come under fire for interdicting Madonsela, with political parties and analysts accusing them of panicking and applying delaying tactics.
The ANC had endorsed Madonsela’s report even before its release, as it would help the party and the country “to gain clarity on the allegations and point to the resolution of the reported challenges”.
With a backlash gathering force within the party over the prosecution of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the ANC statement adds to signs that senior leaders have lost patience with Zuma and his allies.
Madonsela received a standing ovation as she bowed out for a final time. Louisa Zondo, the chief executive of the Office of the Public Protector, remarked her departure was a “bitter-sweet moment”.
Saturday Star