Former public protector Thuli Madonsela acknowledged that the state of capture report released on Wednesday is not like the usual public protector reports.
Speaking to Radio 702 on Wednesday‚ Madonsela said due to some difficulties she came across while investigating the report‚ they could not conclude the report properly.
“It is not like our normal reports‚ hence it will raise a lot of questions … because of the legal proceedings and because a lot parties were suddenly unavailable and some went abroad for long periods of time.
“When we asked if they could be interviewed by Skype‚ they were not available; when we asked if they could answer some questions in writing‚ they were not prepared to answer questions in writing - and because of that we have unconcluded processes in some respects‚ we then decided to end the report in a particular way‚” Madonsela said.
She added that the report “provides some answers”.
“It raises some questions and then provides a mechanism to conclude the process.”
In the state of capture report released on Wednesday‚ Madonsela recommends that the president establishes a commission of inquiry.
Madosela said the court actions that occurred before the release of the state capture reports gave the world a glimpse of the processes that occur in the public protector’s office.
“I was fascinated by what happened … It gave the world a glimpse into the world we have occupied as public protector. When we were doing high-stake reports we ended up dealing with courts in these litigation processes instead of focusing on our work.
“I believe it’s important. We have always wanted to comply with the Constitution that we are an open and transparent democracy … and that’s why the exercise of public power had to do so accountably and responsibly.”
– TMG Digital
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