Blind eye to protector

The great pity about the brouhaha over our new public protector’s alleged misconduct and lack of competence to do her job effectively is that a detailed complaint about the way she was going about her then-new job was made to the justice portfolio committee of the National Assembly as long ago as January 16. The full complaint and relevant correspondence trail is accessible at: http://accountabilitynow.org.za/ ciex-public-protector-complaint/.

It suffices to say Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s integrity was impugned in the complaint and her irregular modus operandi in dealing with the self-same Ciex complaint was criticised. Parliament was asked to rein her in, set her right and even to legislate to get her to function more effectively and efficiently, with the necessary dignity and decorum expected of all Chapter Nine institutions.

Had the justice portfolio committee reacted timeously to the complaint, it would by now have been aired, and the public protector would have been given the opportunity of explaining her errant ways and correcting or refining her modus operandi.

Alas, the complaint has been ignored with the seriously deleterious consequences the Reserve Bank now raises in its judicial review of the remedial action as directed by her in the final Ciex report. The Reserve Bank first realised it was an affected party (truly a bolt from the blue) after the report was published.

Paul Hoffman, SC Director, Accountability Now