If Thuli talks, we must all listen

Thuli Madonsela has become the voice of our conscience – the conscience many of us either don’t have, or have allowed to fall into disuse. As the public protector, she fearlessly looked into the mess of allegations around state capture and made recommendations that a judicial commission of inquiry be set up to probe them.

She acknowledges that she and her investigators and report drafters were pressed for time in carrying out their inquiries and in putting together the recommendations – hence her reliance on phrases such as “apparently” and “it appears that”. However, she is adamant that the use of these phrases does not lesson the importance of what she was saying in the report.

And, as she tells us today, her detailed document cannot, therefore, be dismissed as a “lot of fresh air”, which is what former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe did when he appeared in parliament last week.

Madonsela was particularly scathing in her assessment of what Molefe has been saying about evidence in the report, including that he made multiple cellphone calls while in the vicinity of the Gupta family’s mansion in Saxonwold. Molefe has tried to pass of those phone calls as being to or from a “shebeen” in the area, but has failed to provide anything close to substantiation for his claims.

Now, Madonsela has said, in her customary, straightforward, manner: Molefe, you are a liar.

Worryingly, though, Madonsela is concerned that the arms of state tasked with investigating the state capture claims are dragging their feet, possibly with a view to allowing the evidence trail to go cold.

It is in everybody’s interest that a full, thorough, investigation is launched as soon as possible and that the dismissive responses of people like Brian Molefe – and also of Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown – be subjected to intense scrutiny.