Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete has distanced herself from “the grossly inaccurate statement” that she has rejected the state capture report handed to her by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. This is according to the office of the African National Congress (ANC) chief whip‚ which on Saturday said it had met with Mbete regarding reports that she has decided to return the report to the office of the Public Protector.“The Speaker has confirmed that indeed the report‚ as requested‚ is currently being kept under lock and key in parliament and will be handed over to the new Public Protector‚ Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane‚ without delay when she assumes office on Monday‚ 17 October 2016‚” a statement from Jackson Mthembu’s office read.“The Speaker's handling of the matter in this regard is appropriate and is accordingly fully supported and appreciated by us.“We are disappointed by the inaccurate statement by an official in the Parliamentary Communications Services‚ which created an erroneous notion in the media that the Speaker has outrightly declined to take custody of the report.”The statement purporting to be from Mbete’s office‚ which was issued on Friday‚ read:“The Speaker has an obligation in terms of the Rules of the Assembly to table all documents received for the information of Members‚ in order to ensure that the business of the Assembly is conducted in an open and transparent manner. This report however cannot be handled in the same manner."The report will accordingly be returned to the Office of the Public Protector."..