The Public Protector is silent when SA needs her most

DAMNING revelations emerge daily of the true scale and extent of state capture in the executive and our state-owned enterprises by the Gupta-zuma network.

As a consequence of each new e-mail and allegation break, it is pertinent to ask: where is our Public Protector?

In the midst of this scandal Ms Busisiwe Mkwhebane seems to be missing in action, maintaining a strangely stoic silence. This is odd as chapter seven of the Public Protector Act empowers the office to conduct an investigation on her initiative. Why has she not acted on even one of the allegations, of abuse of office by a single minister or public official, to have emerged in recent weeks?

It’s the Public Protector’s constitutional obligation to investigate any conduct in state affairs or the public administration that is “alleged or suspected to be improper, or to result in any impropriety or prejudice”. The latest scandal surely ticks all those boxes.

Much public scepticism heralded Mkwhebane’s appointment. So far, her inaction has done nothing but prove her critics right.

South Africans need a strong Public Protector who is going to stand up for the constitution and what is right, not a patsy who kowtows to the executive.

JOHN STEENHUISEN DA Chief Whip, MP