AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) MPs on Wednesday made startling accusations against Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, alleging that her office was dysfunctional and that she ran it in an "undemocratic" fashion.
This was after Ms Madonsela presented her office’s annual financial report to Parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional service. During the tense meeting, ANC MP and committee chairman Mathole Motshekga made dramatic accusations against Ms Madonsela, saying her office was "overbloated" and that she was failing to manage her budget.
Mr Motshekga also said the public protector’s office was insolvent, with its liabilities exceeding its assets. The office had assets worth less than R1m and debts close to R40m.
Ms Madonsela had said if Parliament did not allocate more resources to her office, then it can be regarded as insolvent. However, before she could explain the "components of the insolvency", Mr Motshekga abruptly adjourned the meeting for lunch.
She was told to respond to the issue in writing. This prompted a furious response from Democratic Alliance (DA) MPs.
This latest spat between the ANC and Ms Madonsela points to deepening tensions between the ruling party and the chapter 9 institution. In recent months Ms Madonsela has come under increasing attack by the ANC and its allies — linked to her findings on the controversial upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home that cost taxpayers R246m.
Amid simmering tensions Ms Madonsela was visibly angry when Mr Motshekga accused her of inability to manage her budget. Mr Motshekga also said staff in the public protector’s office were suffering from "depression" largely because she ran the office with an iron hand.
"If you have these massive resignations and morale is low, it may suggest that there is no democracy within this institution because if you can (engage) with your staff from time to time and involve them in the work and determination of the programme, you will be able to control the pressure on them," Mr Motshekga said.
Earlier, Mr Motshekga said Parliament and in particular the committee were "supporting" the office of the public protector, not as a favour, but because it is a constitutional obligation.
"We respect your operational independence. We have no intention to interfere, but we will have to work on our relationship with your office so we can assist," he said.
Mr Motshekga also said it was problematic that Parliament did not receive all reports on investigations that her office was working on. But Ms Madonsela said only "special reports" were tabled to the speaker of Parliament and that her office had never failed to account.
On several occasions during the meeting, Mr Motshekga interjected as Ms Madonsela was trying to respond to questions.
Later in a statement, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said given recent attempts by the ANC to undermine the office of the public protector, "it is clear that her office will not be capacitated as required".
