Johannesburg - Former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela has disclosed that she intends filing a lawsuit against a certain individual who accused her of being a spy paid by American investor and philanthropist George Soros.
Madonsela made this revelation after she was conferred with an honorary law doctorate by the University of KwaZulu-Natal for her fight against corruption during her tenure as public protector.
“I am about to make an example of someone who tweeted on August 10 (this year) that I am a spy paid by George Soros, among others.
“I intend to sue this person and donate the proceeds to our Action for Inclusion Fund, which we are about to establish to ensure that, among other things, no student is financially excluded at the beginning of 2020,” Madonsela told academics, students and parents during the graduation ceremony held at the university’s Westville Campus.
When pressed to reveal who she was suing, Madonsela maintained she was not yet ready to disclose the identity of the person in question.
“As soon as I have filed the court papers, then we will indicate who the person is,” she said.
Although she would not reveal the exact amount of her suit, she said it would be more than R500000.
“This is because the damage to my reputation and the danger that these people keep putting me in is far more than R500000. So I will be suing her for a substantial amount of money,” said Madonsela.
She intends to file her court papers in the coming weeks.
The only time anyone has ever accused the former public protector of being an informant was in 2014, when Defence and Military Veterans Deputy Minister Kebby Maphatsoe alleged she was a CIA agent.
Meanwhile, asked to comment on former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, where he accused her of having destroyed his life, Madonsela laughed off the comments.
“The less said about Hlaudi the better, as he knows the truth.”
She added: “The report specifies what he said to me and what documentation was there. But the truth is he did lie about having matric and he did put symbols that he had a matric.”
Madonsela said Motsoeneng had told the SABC he would collect his symbols, but never produced them, later confirming that he did not have matric.
She explained that she had found Motsoeneng guilty of lying about his matric and that the SABC had downgraded requirements for the COO post to “specifically” accommodate him.
“The COO job had been advertised over the years with a requirement of not even a Bachelor’s degree, but a postgraduate degree, and for him it was pulled off and the requirement was diminished, and that was improper,” said Madonsela.