Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is a woman on a mission to uphold the ethics of the government she serves — only it would seem she is fighting against the tide, within an establishment determined to undermine the work she is doing.
Since taking office in October 2009 Madonsela has pulled no punches, and for all intents and purposes has been seen to be doing a far better job than her predecessor Lawrence Mushwana.
She has ruffled feathers from the get-go; from her tackling of the leasing scandal involving the rental of government office space, to her fresh call of a clear line between party and state.
Madonsela has even been so bold as to call the conduct of her predecessor into question, by not challenging a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling into Mushwana’s investigation of the 2004 Oilgate scandal, which deemed his work to be shoddy and incomplete.
This type of behaviour is certainly not what the government is used to from its appointees. For her efforts, she was rewarded on Wednesday with the shock announcement that she was to be arrested in connection with corruption and fraud that allegedly took place during her time as a commissioner at the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC).
Madonsela the target
The Public Protector has needled some powerful people and it’s clear there are some who might be eager not only to undermine Madonsela’s work, but also to have her removed from office completely.
One government official with a bone to pick with Madonsela is South African Police Services (SAPS) national commissioner, General Bheki Cele, who was involved in the handling of the dubious multimillion rand leases for police office space.
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Cele’s handling of the leases was deemed by the protector to be “totally flawed”.
It’s not the first signs of intimidation. In March this year Madonsela’s offices were visited by two unidentified police officers from the police’s crime intelligence unit, who requested documents Cele had allegedly been denied access to by the protector.
After the incident, Nobody within government or the police would confirm the raid, and Madonsela quietly proceeded with her duties.
On Wednesday, however, Madonsela told reporters in Pretoria she was left saddened by reports of her imminent arrest, having previously thought she had the government’s support.
“It does not leave me fearful but I am sad — I thought until today that the government was on my side,” Madonsela said.
Protecting the protector
On the other side of the fence are allies who have publicly backed Madonsela since the story broke, with the protector talking of countless calls from ministers, judges and civil society offering her messages of support.
Predictably, opposition parties have also castigated reports of Madonsela’s possible incarceration, with the Democratic Alliance calling it a clear instance of intimidation, and civil organisation AfriForum describing the allegations as an attack on the rule of law.
But the protector is not without supporters within the government. The biggest player to speak publicly is police minister Nathi Mthethwa, who labelled allegations against Madonsela as “baseless” and vowed to get to the bottom of the matter.
Mthethwa also denied any knowledge of an investigation against her, as has Cele.
President Jacob Zuma, meanwhile, has been vague when alluding to the matter, simply saying all chapter nine institutions, of which the Public Protector is one, deserve the independence the Constitution offers them. Whether this is lip service or actual political manoeuvring to rally behind the protector remains to be seen.
Going on the government’s record of dealing with the misdemeanours of those within their own ranks, however serious they may be, it’s doubtful anyone will have the gumption to fire or censure a senior official — even more so if the supposed offending party is a comrade with a history of service in the struggle.
In such cases, the most common course of action has been to dispense discipline behind the scenes and redeploy the offender. At the very most there might be a gentle public rebuke before moving the culprit on — lest they bite back and the punisher becomes the punished, as was the case when Thabo Mbeki relieved Zuma of his duties as deputy president of the republic.
While the public waits to see if any heads will roll after what many consider to have been a move to intimidate the Public Protector, those officials responsible for calling whomever turns out to be behind the move to order will have to decide: Protect the protector or shield those with connections?
It is certain for now, though, that Madonsela — who has made it clear she refuses to be intimidated — is on a mission.
“I will not stop speaking truth to power and not stop operating under the auspices of truth and impartiality,” Madonsela said at the press briefing on Wednesday.
The question is: Will she be allowed to continue doing so?