Three in running for public protector

THERE are three contenders in the running to become the next public protector after Parliament whittled its shortlist of 14 down to five this week.

Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai is strongly favoured by the ANC, which had to fend off objections from the DA and other opposition parties to get him through to the final round next week.

But the break in hostilities over Desai is unlikely to last after he was accused by the DA of demonstrating political bias and lacking the temperament for the job.

The judge did himself no favours – as he admitted – by snapping at MPs asking questions about the rape allegation he faced in India in 2004 and his publicised clashes with fellow members of the bench.

Cool head

MPs ranging from the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu and the DA’s Phumzile van Damme to ACDP member of the justice committee Steve Swart pointed out the public protector needed a cool head to deal with the constant criticism and political attacks.

While Thuli Madonsela had been gracious throughout, Van Damme said, Desai had “imploded” after two questions.

While the ANC has a big enough majority to anoint a candidate of its choice, chairwoman of the ad hoc committee making the selection, Makhosi Khoza, wants to reach consensus without a vote.

Choosing Desai could damage the credibility of the process, regardless of whether or not he was “anybody’s yes man”, as ANC MP Amos Masondo put it.

This would make the remaining two candidates favoured by the ANC – former provincial public protector head Busisiwe Mkhwebane and pension funds adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane – likely compromise candidates.

High Court Judge Sharise Weiner and former deputy chief prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Bongani Majola, were backed by opposition MPs and are unlikely to make the final cut.

Praise

Lukhaimane enjoyed the praise of legal practitioners in her capacity as pension funds adjudicator and is credited with having cleared the backlog of complaints within 15 months of having been appointed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, according to a report by Corruption Watch.

She had a strong interview despite fielding questions about allegedly having sold alcohol without a licence – a charge, she said, cooked up by a corrupt police officer.

Mkhwebane has the more impressive CV, having started as a public prosecutor, done a stint as a senior researcher at the Human Rights Commission, served as a public protector investigator before becoming provincial head and progressing to chief director in the Home Affairs Department.

She is an analyst at the Department of State Security.