Jittery foreign investors grilled Public Protector Thuli Madonsela at a Deutsche Bank conference in London last week over whether they should be concerned that the government had ignored a court order, which had allowed genocide-accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to slip out of the country. While Madonsela had been asked to speak at the conference to promote investment in South Africa, questions soon turned to whether anyone who did put money into the country could rely on the courts to protect that money, if needs be.story_article_left1Speaking after a panel discussion on governance at the Sunday Times Directors Event at the Hilton in Sandton this week, Madonsela said the foreign investors "want to know if they can turn to the courts to protect their investments if necessary".Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes relating to more than 300000 deaths in Sudan's Darfur region, dating back more than a decade. After he arrived in South Africa two weeks ago, the Southern African Litigation Centre obtained a court order preventing him from leaving . But the government failed to stop him flying home .Madonsela said it was particularly worrying that this was the first time in her career that she had been asked to defend South Africa's adherence to the rule of law. "When it comes to upholding the rule of law, South Africa has always been considered a leading light - not only in Africa but the world," she said.Madonsela did not necessarily consider any possible mishandling of the Bashir matter to be a defining moment, but she said South Africa would have to work hard to ensure its actions did not erode confidence among foreign investors.The country had an excellent business sector, as well as a long history of upholding the law, even during the apartheid era, she said."The very fact that civil society was able to bring the case against Bashir and that the media could take the interest it has in the matter was proof of this," Madonsela said.What was a concern, however, was that there was a disconnect between the way South Africa saw itself, and how it was "perceived by the world".block_quotes_start Investors in Africa want to know that they are putting their money in a stable environment block_quotes_end"It's important that we keep in mind that whatever we are, we are still part of the global community and investors in Africa want to know that they are putting their money into an environment that is stable."Madonsela had been asked by the DA to investigate Bashir's escape, but she said she could not comment on the case because "I also do not know all the facts" yet.story_article_right2But Yunus Hoosen, the acting head of investment promotion at the Department of Trade and Industry, dismissed Madonsela's view that there was investor concern over South Africa's legal system, saying it had not come up in talks with investors."This is not the issue concerning investors from where I sit," he said. "The minister [Rob Davies], deputy minister [Mzwandile Masina], director-general [Lionel October] and our unit are interacting with investors regularly in South Africa and abroad."Hoosen said investors had instead raised concerns about electricity shortages, labour market constraints, skills development as well as concerns in specific sectors, such as poor growth in the mining sector."South Africa remains an attractive investment destination," he said.In the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index, South Africa ranks 56th out of 144 countries. The country did well when it came to auditing standards, the performance of boards and investor protection. This is, however, a fall from 53rd last year and 50th in 2012...