Pretoria - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has welcomed the report of the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, on the investigation into allegations of improper involvement by himself in a business transaction with Iran.
"The report of the Public Protector repudiates the statements made by Mr Barry Oberholzer, and published in the Sunday Times on 11 March 2012, alleging improper conduct by the Deputy President and his partner Ms Gugu Mtshali," said the Deputy President in a statement issued by his office.
The Public Protector on Friday released her report in which she found no evidence suggesting that either Motlanthe or his partner were involved in any business transaction with Oberholzer.
"Oberholzer, in his interview with the Office of the Public Protector, asserted that he had never met nor had any business relations with the Deputy President and his partner," said the statement.
It added that Motlanthe and Mtshali had always maintained that they had committed no wrongdoing. "They have been vindicated by the report of the Public Protector," it said.
