New public protector 'won’t turn blind eye to high profile cases' – ditches donor funds and consultants

New Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has decided on six changes to ensure the efficient functioning of the office.

These include the discontinued use of donor funds‚ doing away with the naming of investigation reports‚ cutting the use of consultants‚ prioritising the finalisation of cases more than two years old and placing a moratorium on international travel.

Mkhwebane was briefing the media for the first time since she took office on October 15‚ and on the strategic direction her office will take for the next seven years.

She said in her first week in her position as Public Protector‚ she has noted that there is low staff morale‚ at least in the head office.

She said some of the most pertinent problems related to matters related to performance management and the development system‚ and the occupation specific dispensation‚ where a junior staff member earned more than their supervisor.

Mkhwevane said the root cause of the problem was the inadequate resourcing of her office.

“I have already brought this issue to the attention of parliament and I am hopeful that those discussions will bear fruit so that we can be able to settle these disputes‚” Mkhwebane said.

Mkhwebane said she was uncomfortable with the use of foreign donors to assist the programmes of the office of the Public Protector.

“We will no longer use some of the donor funds because of some of the risks associated with it.

“We will do away with the naming of investigation reports to avoid unnecessary tension between us and the state.”

She said the office would no longer make use of consultants for investigative work and would invest in building internal capacity to include the capacity the office did not have‚ such as forensics and auditing.

Mkhwebane said she would prioritise ageing cases‚ 260 of which were older than two years.

She said this did not mean she would not focus on high profile cases.

Mkhwebane said she was by law required to investigate infringement of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act.

“People have misconstrued this message that I will ignore high profile cases. There is no merit in the claims that I am going to turn a blind eye in those cases‚” she said.

Mkhwebane said she had placed a moratorium on international travel because exchanging of notes with international counterparts had been done.

Mkhwebane also said she had not received a written handover report from Madonsela due to her busy schedule.

“We have agreed to meet when it is convenient. I received a report which she has prepared. I will go through that before meeting her.”