Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has made an impassioned plea to the government to increase funding for her office.
She said lack of funding has the grim prospect of de-legitimising her office, because of serious backlogs in cases.
“We have cases that are older than three years that we still haven’t completed. And, where the investigators have completed their investigations, they have not been able to write reports on time,” Madonsela said on Wednesday.
She was speaking to The Star on the sidelines of an event to celebrate extraordinary South Africans in Midrand.
“The impact is on complaints themselves. Justice delayed is justice denied. This has the potential to de-legitimise our office and erode its capacity to strengthen democracy and repair the (potential) damage to the constitution.”
Madonsela expanded on this while fielding questions from the floor.
She said lack of funding had the danger to “close the door to administrative scrutiny”. “We are asking government to give us resources to be more thorough and prompt… The other thing is… in terms of staff, we have a crisis,” Madonsela said.
Among the reports that are yet to be released is the one involving allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the SA Post Office, which has been hit by a crippling strike, she added.
Madonsela’s spokesman, Oupa Segalwe, said the report had been completed and was awaiting “quality assurance” before it could be released.
Madonsela was asked if her office was losing the battle in fighting corruption because of the fierce criticism she had faced around some of her reports.
She responded: “We are not losing the battle. We have resolved a lot more cases, the majority of which were successfully resolved in favour of the complainants.”
Madonsela added without mentioning the Nkandla report: “Yes, we are going through a rough period now. People look at it (our performance) as one case. In fact, as we battle with that case, we are resolving other cases.”
She also had some advice, and a stern warning, for her detractors: “All I ask is for the criticism to be fair, rational and respect the dignity of this institution… It’s when they cross the line where I have a problem.
“Some insults constitute contempt of (the) Public Protector’s Office.”
Asked how she managed to stay calm in the face of severe criticism, Madonsela said: “I pray about certain things and I meditate. I forgive. I have learnt to pick up battles that are worth fighting for and (avoid) those that are not. I also deal with issues without (creating) drama. It’s never about the most senior argument, but the most rational.”
Madonsela said she took solace in that she was “in a privileged position to be part of the crusade to provide solutions to problems. I am strategically placed inside rather than outside. I am grateful I am able to make a difference in improving people’s lives.”
On the quality of the current political leadership, she said: “I don’t want to comment on the quality, but to say that the leadership of this country is all of us.”
The Star