Protector has wrong take

The new public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, does not appear to be well informed about how the government works. If she is under the impression that former public protector Thuli Madonsela went to other countries to fund-raise for her office, she was wrongly briefed.

The issue of the USAID funds is not a matter for Madonsela, but rather something Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha should answer. Madonsela didn’t go out to look for the USAID funds; they are given to the government and are distributed to different departments.

It is Masutha’s duty to explain to Mkhwebane how these funds are utilised. It is unfair that Madonsela is being blamed now.

It is also common practice that consultants are used in all government departments, yet now Mkhwebane has vowed to no longer use the services of consultants used by the previous public protector.

Madonsela asked for a bigger budget several times, but the same portfolio committee that