Madonsela worried about who runs SA
SOME information former public protector Thuli Madonsela uncovered during the state of capture report made her “really worried” about who is running the country.
And, Madonsela said, without the commission of inquiry she had recommended‚ the trust deficit between the government and the public created by state capture would continue to grow.
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club yesterday, Madonsela said she felt that because the issue of the alleged state capture by the Gupta family was such a highly charged matter both politically and emotionally‚ it needed a transparent‚ open process.
Questioned about who really runs the country she said: “Officially‚ we know that we have a government‚ but if we don’t get a commission of inquiry‚ there will always be a trust deficit.
“Some of the information I gathered made me really worried about who runs the country.”
She said it might well be that whistle-blowers like Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas‚ former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor and former government spokesman Themba Maseko were lying‚ but that without an inquiry‚ the country would never know.
She had also noticed how the use of the phrase “white minority capital” had started to flourish in the wake of her report and said she had read how governments in Africa “whip up ethnicity as an issue”.
But‚ “the answer to white minority capital is not having two families enriching themselves through state resources”.
Madonsela was also asked to weigh in on the presidential race as the ANC heads towards its elective conference at the end of the year.
She said she was neither qualified to be president nor interested in the job‚ but hoped the next president would work to bring South Africans together.
Madonsela also refused to be drawn on whether her report into the Absa “lifeboat” money had been altered.
She said she had views on the issue but would not comment publicly.
A draft of the report was leaked and published in the Mail & Guardian last week.