Publications
Partners
Karl Marx teaches us that history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, and second as a farce.
This phrase is invoked by further interesting episodes of the Public Protector’s performance in our country.
The Public Protector (PP) as part of State Institutions Supporting Democracy (commonly known as “Chapter 9 Institutions”) provides important “checks and balances” that safeguard the public against abuse of power by those given privilege to serve our citizenry, the majority of which are the vulnerable working class.
Thus, the establishment of such institutions is the fulfilment of our shared ideals of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), especially the ‘D’ in the NDR.
These institutions must be protected from both internal and external threats.
The society must guard against unjustifiable and unfair attacks on the persona of the Public Protector.
Equally, those that lead such important institutions must avoid the temptation of politicising such institutions or providing a substandard service that undermines the role and decorum of such institutions.
The case in point is the current public discourse regarding the fitness of the current Public Protector to execute her constitutional mandate.
The Office of the Public Protector has received considerable public interest in the recent past, particularly due to its investigation of high level cases, under the leadership of the then Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela.
This included investigations into the upgrade of the Nkandla home of former President Zuma. Advocate Madonsela recommended in the “Secure in Comfort” report that an independent Commission of Inquiry must be established to investigate the chronic corruption in state institutions.
"This reaffirmed earlier calls by our SACP for “an independent judicial commission of inquiry into corporate capture of state”.
The “Secure in Comfort” report resulted in unprecedented attacks on the Office of the Public Protector.
Some questioned the timing and the substance of the report while others dismissed the report as a politically calculated ploy.
In their desperate attempts to discredit the report, some of Zuma’s henchmen even suggested that Advocate Madonsela might be a CIA agent.
In the same period, similar attacks were directed to the judicial arm of the state, as some characterised certain judgments as “counter-revolutionary”.
However, many South Africans remained resolute in shielding the Office of the Public Protector from these attacks.
This period was indeed tragic, however, the pendulum swung as Advocate Madonsela was vindicated by subsequent political events and court rulings.
The Madonsela period as the Public Protector gave meaning to the mandate of the Office of the Public Protector, particularly looking at the lull in this Office before Madonsela.
The next episode was the appointment of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane as the PP, an episode that I referred to as “Mkhwebane moment”.
The Mkhwebane moment was faced with challenges right at the beginning of her appointment.
Unsurprisingly, her candidacy was not supported by the Democratic Alliance (DA), as they maliciously claimed that she was an intelligence spy, a claim which is not backed by any piece of evidence.
This was a first salvo by the DA and a direct attack not only to the persona of Mkhwebane but on the integrity of the Office she holds.
Beyond the malicious intent of the DA, the most recent reports have attracted an enormous public interest in the Mkhwebane moment.
In particular, the report on the Reserve Bank, the Estina Dairy report and the report on the approval of Ivan Pillay’s early retirement from SARS.
The Reserve Bank and Estina Dairy reports have been taken on review and subsequently set aside in a court of law.
The latter report is also subject of a review process. The recent court rulings provided ammunition for the DA to attack the PP and question her fitness to hold office, which the EFF initially embraced.
However, in their true chameleon style, the EFF seem to have changed its stance on their call for Mkhwebane’s removal.
This was after the PP found that Gordhan irregularly approved Pillay’s early retirement.
The PP’s report was received with some mixed reactions. Some, including the EFF, called for the report of the PP to be respected and the recommendation to be acted upon.
However, it is not difficult to see that the EFF posture on the Mkhwebane moment is not principled but based on their hatred of Gordhan.
After all, this is the same man who led the SARS when Malema was pursued over tax avoidance, which accumulated to millions of rand.
In their true bullying tactics the EFF warned President Ramaphosa not to appoint Minister Gordhan to his new Cabinet.
On the other side, Gordhan’s supporters saw the report as part of the grand plot to prevent Gordhan from assuming public office.
Again, the old question of the timing of the report was raised to convince the public that the report was part of political machinations.
It is crystal clear that the work of the Public Protector has assisted us to locate two opposing forces in society: the broad front against corruption and state capture on the one side, and the enablers and beneficiaries of corruption and state capture on the other side.
Interestingly, both forces comprise of elements from inside and outside the ANC.
It is, thus, important for Chapter 9 institutions to remain vigilant and not to play into the hands of negative disruptors from both inside and outside of the ANC.
This institution cannot be used as a tool for palace politics. Further, we must never glorify individuals at the expense of such important institutions.
As citizens in general and the left axis in particular, the positions we take on such contested matters must be principled and firmly based on correct legal interpretation.
In the case of comrade Gordhan we must never advance unconditional support which borders on developing a personality cult.
Let the courts be the final arbiter.
In any case, as the vanguard Party we appreciate the role that comrade Gordhan played in the fight against state capture.
However, in the current phase we must reject with contempt his attempt at the neo-liberal restructuring of our state-owned companies, which will only serve to reverse the state-led developmental agenda resulting in a jobs bloodbath.
Ngqentsu is the Provincial Secretary of the South African Communist Party in the Western Cape
