Never mind the courts. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's findings are still not binding. This is the view of the ANC, which yesterday insisted - contrary to a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling - that it still considered Madonsela's findings mere recommendations not equal in stature to court judgments. And the party may yet refer the matter to a higher court. The government has previously threatened to take Madonsela's findings up for judicial review but subsequently deferred to parliament, where her findings were overturned by the ANC's majority."That will have to be reviewed. There is no recommendation that is binding," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday.The SCA ruling could have implications for other findings by Madonsela, including those relating to the spending on President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home.Madonsela last year found Zuma had "unduly benefited" from non-security upgrades to his Nkandla home, on which more than R246-million of public funds were spent.She ordered Zuma to repay a portion of the money but he said her findings were mere recommendations and only parliament could order him to repay any of the costs.The SCA said yesterday the only remedy available to those aggrieved by the public protector's findings was to challenge them through an application for a judicial review. The court also gave legal effect to findings of the public protector."The public protector cannot realise the constitutional purpose of her office if other organs of state may second-guess her findings and ignore her recommendations," judges of Appeal Mahomed Navsa and Visvanathan Ponnan said, with three others concurring."Absent a review application, however, such person is not entitled to simply ignore the findings, decision or remedial action taken by the public protector."Madonsela's office said: "The judgment confirms what the public protector has always known, which is that once she has made a decision, organs of state affected by the decision must implement unless her report is successfully reviewed by a court of law. It also confirms her long-held belief that a public protector cannot be second-guessed, with parallel investigations conducted by other bodies and the outcomes thereof relied upon as the basis for not implementing the remedial action."The public protector's powers were reaffirmed when the SCA ordered the SABC to suspend operational boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng and institute disciplinary proceedings against him within five days.The SCA yesterday dismissed an appeal by the SABC, Motsoeneng and Communications Minister Faith Muthambi.In a move slammed by the SCA, the SABC said it asked a law firm to investigate and it found Madonsela was mistaken in her findings.SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago could not be reached for comment.Additional reporting by Shenaaz Jamal..