Madonsela for president? Madonsela says 'not interested'

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is not going into politics after her term ends in 18 months, and that is official.

She has also spoken out in defence of her daughter Wenzile's membership of the EFF, saying she was old enough to "exercise her freedom of association".

Madonsela told a strongly supportive audience at The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn this week that she planned to return to teaching at university level and to join the bar as a practising advocate.

Madonsela has faced mounting calls, often by opposition supporters, for her to enter politics and her audience this week proved to be no exception.

"I have never had any interest in entering politics," Madonsela told the disappointed audience of largely white, elderly people, "and I have no interest in politics. I am happy to advise politicians."

Madonsela was active in the anti-apartheid movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when she operated mainly within the legal fraternity.

Her daughter, who is a student at Pretoria University, seems to be following in her activist footsteps.

It was announced earlier this year that Wenzile had been elected to the EFF leadership on campus.

Madonsela said that although she did not share her daughter's views on politics she appreciated her right to make her own choice.

A Resilient Nation

"It is my duty as a democrat, and as her parent, to defend her right to be who she chooses to be, as long as she doesn't harm anyone or undermine the rights and dignity of others," she said.

Madonsela said that although she was worried about the extent of corruption in South Africa, she was not despondent.

"The situation is terrible, but not desperate. When we have successes, we must celebrate them. We are a resilient nation," she said.

"We have had such a tough past but we have always produced heroes to overcome it. I just hope violence does not become the preferred way to solve it."

Madonsela reacted strongly to her detractors, advising them to "rather focus on their jobs."

She specifically rejected claims that she hogged the limelight and cherry-picked high-profile cases to the detriment of her primary task, which is to protect the public from indifferent public servants and poor service by the state.

"The fact that our office finalised 40000 cases last year disproves the allegation," she said.

Madonsela called on the public to take a more lasting interest in the handling of corruption cases and not "leave it in the hands of politicians when the initial interest has died down after the first few weeks".

She promised that her office would appeal the judgment in the High Court in Cape Town - that her findings on the improvements to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead were mere recommendations - all the way to the Constitutional Court.

She claims the law gives her the power to make findings, which have to be binding, otherwise they would simply be ignored.

Regarding the Department of State Security's investigation into website claims that she was a spy, Madonsela noted that the website had existed for only a few weeks. She regarded the allegations against her as unfounded hate speech.

Her office, she said, was understaffed and underfunded, given its mandate and case load.

Madonsela added: "At a recent international ombudsman conference, the Dutch ombudsman was criticised for not contributing more to the discussion. He apologised for coming from one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

"I wish that I could make that claim in my lifetime."