Little to regret a year later for Thuli Madonsela
A year after she released the State of Capture report, former public protector Thuli Madonsela says she has no regrets about her time in office.
Madonsela also maintained that her investigation into state capture, which did not paint President Jacob Zuma in a glowing light, had employed reliable techniques and proven investigative practices.
The State of Capture report was one of many high-profile documents Madonsela produced during the latter years of her seven-year, nonrenewable term as public protector.
Some of the other notable reports include Secure in Comfort, which looked into the security upgrades at Zuma’s private home in Nkandla, and Derailed, the investigation of the procurement malaise at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA.
During that time, Madonsela was accused of being a Central Intelligence Agency spy.
She touched on her term of office on Monday, when speaking at the iDAfrica17 conference at the V&A Waterfront.
The investigation practices she had used when compiling the state-capture report were evidence-based.
“We started with allegations. The first question is how to prove it. Some would suggest pictures and meetings. This is just one step.
“What does one do when that is not categorical. Technology does not lie. That is how you can say that Mr [Brian] Molefe was at Saxonwold at a certain time,” said Madonsela.
The State of Capture report included former Eskom CEO Molefe’s cellphone records, which showed that he had been in contact with one of the Gupta brothers more than 40 times.
Molefe has bemoaned the report, claiming that he had not been given a chance to comment on it before it was released to the public.
Addressing delegates at the conference, Madonsela said the use of technology and data capturing tools had empowered her office and enabled it to conduct informed investigations.
“Another strong tool is bank records. In the past, handwritten records could be deleted.
“Now, bank records and systems capture transactions forever. Technology is a means for administrative accountability,” she said.
If she used her investigative skills appropriately, it was unlikely that she would have compiled a report wrongly accusing any individual of impropriety, Madonsela said.
“I don’t know if Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was with these individuals, for example, but technology can either vindicate or nail her,” said Madonsela, referring to pictures published in the Sunday Times showing Dlamini-Zuma photographed with Adriano Mazzotti and a Phumelela Gaming and Leisure nonexecutive director.
“If you look at state capture, the movement of drivers frequenting [the Gupta compound in] Saxonwold is also an indicator that can unravel the truth through technology,” she said.