Top Thuli executives jump ship

Two senior executives have resigned from the public protector's office just as Thuli Madonsela has come under a new barrage of political attacks.

CEO Themba Mthethwa and chief financial officer Dumisani Dlamini resigned yesterday .

Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said: "The public protector's office is at the centre of a political firestorm and some civil servants will yield to pressure because the office has been projected as an enemy institution."

The public protector's spokesman, Oupa Segalwe, said: "Mthethwa resigned indicating that he had got a better offer elsewhere. Dlamini also got a better offer elsewhere.

"Due to the public protector's limited resources, the CEO and CFO are appointed at lower levels compared to their equals in the government.

"Their resignations, therefore, have nothing to do with so-called political pressure. With regard to operations, it is business as usual in the office," said Segalwe.

Madonsela found that President Jacob Zuma unduly benefited from the R246-million "security upgrading" to his private homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal. She recommended that he repay a "reasonable portion" of the cost as recompense to taxpayers.