Matter of official car crashed by Madonsela's son not yet finalised: Mkhwebane

20 October 2016 - 19:25 By Ernest Mabuza

The new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane maintained on Thursday that the matter of the damage to former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s official vehicle in 2012 was not yet finalised. During a briefing in Parliament on Wednesday‚ Mkhwebane assured MPs that her office was "working on" settling the matter of the state-owned vehicle which was crashed by Madonsela's son in 2012. According to the judges’ handbook‚ which applies to Madonsela‚ her son could drive the vehicle only if she was in the official vehicle. The matter resurfaced last week when the New Age newspaper reported that there was a question as to whether the repair bill had been settled.On John Robbie's 702 radio show on Thursday morning‚ Madonsela seemed puzzled this had resurfaced‚ saying the matter had been handled by two different processes.Madonsela said if her appearance before Parliament was not postponed last week‚ she would have been able to explain to MPs that the matter had been dealt with as both the Auditor-General and g-FleeT Management‚ the Gauteng transport department’s fleet management service provider‚ had cleared her of any wrongdoing.“They both came to the conclusion that I was not involved in the matter‚ that I was sleeping. I did not give instructions for the car to be used‚” Madonsela‚ whose seven year tenure expired last Friday‚ said.However‚ Mkhwebane - during her first media briefing later on Thursday - said the matter was not yet finalised.Mkhwebane said when questions were raised by one of the media houses about the matter‚ she advised her chief financial officer (CFO)‚ Kennedy Kaposa‚ to check the relevant documentation and how much costs were involved.“We need to find a way of addressing it and the CFO was also indicating that there were engagements between his office and the former Public Protector to check on the matter‚ how it can be resolved.“Therefore‚ the matter is on the table. We are working on it with the CFO. We will engage the former Public Protector on taking the matter forward. So it is still not yet finalised‚” Mkhwebane said...

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