Gcaleka set to be next deputy PP
EEF, DA object to ANC nomination
Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka is set to become SA’s next deputy public protector.
Gcaleka’s name was nominated by the majority ANC during a heated meeting of the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on justice.
Her name will be tabled at a sitting of the assembly next week for approval before it is sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ who is the appointing authority.
Nominating Gcaleka‚ ANC MP Hishaam Mohamed began by saying many of the candidates that were interviewed by the committee were not able to answer due process questions‚ possibly due to nerves.
“Only one candidate came nearest to that. The candidate has a legal background‚ has been dealing with trial procedure through criminal trials‚ has been involved in investigative nature of work and has been exposed to the criminal justice system as a whole.
“I am obviously referring to advocate Kholeka Gcaleka‚ who very clearly was ahead of any other candidate.”
He said Gcaleka was confident and experienced for what was required as the deputy public protector. He said the only issues that came up during her interview was that she worked with previous finance minister Malusi Gigaba and that there were certain views about that which he dismissed as “not factual”.
“We can only objectively and rationally judge the candidate that is in front of us based on what is on the record and what we could find in terms of investigation this committee has done. And nothing disqualifies this particular candidate‚” said Mohamed.
Each one of the ANC MPs in the committee voiced their support for Gcaleka and rejected claims by opposition MPs that she was not ethically fit for the job. They were at pains to say they were under no instruction on whom to appoint.
Gcaleka was a senior deputy director of public prosecutions at the NPA for five years between 2011 and 2016.
She worked as Gigaba’s legal adviser in the last two portfolios he held before resigning from cabinet last year.
The DA and the EFF objected to Gcaleka’s nomination and instead nominated Moshoeshoe Moshoeshoe‚ an attorney at Sars‚ for the job. They argued that as Gigaba’s legal adviser Gcaleka must have played a role in‚ or at least knew about‚ him lying under oath.
Both parties questioned why Gcaleka‚ as a legal professional‚ had continued to work with Gigaba after the minister was found to have lied under oath.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said she had found Gcaleka to be defensive and emotional during the interview‚ and claimed that she did not deal with the questions adequately.
She also questioned how Gcaleka carried herself at the NPA and her alleged support for then national director of public prosecutions Menzi Simelane who allegedly said he was at the NPA to implement the decisions of the ruling party.
“She did nothing to fight for prosecutorial independence. She did nothing to ensure that prosecutions were done without fear‚ favour or prejudice‚” charged Breytenbach‚ herself a former senior prosecutor at the NPA.
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi argued that institutions like the office of the public protector needed people with ethical credibility whose ethical script and ethical history was unquestionable‚ meaning “when we think about these people‚ there is no doubt in our heads about their ethical standing.”