Johannesburg - The newly elected Gauteng ANC Youth League leadership has urged its senior leaders to refrain from attacking the public protector.
This comes as Corruption Watch urged the government to fire MK Military Veterans Association head Kebby Maphatsoe.
Corruption Watch warned that if attacks such as the one Maphatsoe - Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans - launched did not stop, everyone would think it was “open season” to attack Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
The Gauteng ANCYL’s call signalled a sharp difference of opinion with its national task team leader, Mzwandile Masina.
The league’s provincial chairman, Matome Chiloane, said that if some ANC members want to attack Madonsela, “they should do so without dragging the name of our glorious movement through the mud”.
“The organisation has had enough of this unnecessary drama. If comrades are not happy with the work of the public protector, they must critique her findings and leave the shape of her nose or suspicions of her being a spy out of their dissatisfaction with her work,” Chiloane said.
He urged Luthuli House to centralise all communication on issues affecting Madonsela.
Masina said Madonsela must respect parliamentary processes.
On Wednesday, Corruption Watch and the Law Society of South Africa added their voice in support of Madonsela, both condemning Maphatsoe’s attack on her.
Corruption Watch director David Lewis called on President Jacob Zuma to fire Maphatsoe for claiming Madonsela was a CIA spy. While Maphatsoe had since apologised for his comments, Lewis said it was not enough.
“The government purports to ‘distance itself’ from Maphatsoe’s reckless utterances. The appropriate way of establishing distance is to sack him. Anything less will signal government tolerance and condoning of his thuggish behaviour.
“The attacks on the public protector and her office, and the weak or nonexistent response from government to take action against these allegations, cultivate a culture of intolerance and lawlessness,” Lewis said.
The Star