Presidency expresses concern at former Public Protector comments

Friday, November 11, 2016

Pretoria - The Presidency on Friday raised concern about continuing public statements by former Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, on matters relating to President Jacob Zuma and the State Capture report.

“Advocate Madonsela has discharged her duties as the Public Protector and has no further role to play in the process regarding the said report. Her unwarranted public attacks on the President, as happened in Stellenbosch on Thursday, are unbecoming and are not helpful.

“It would be prudent, therefore, for the former Public Protector to step back and allow legal and constitutional processes to unfold unhindered,” said the Presidency in a statement.

The Presidency said it remains concerned about Advocate Madonsela leaking her discussion with President Zuma to television channel eNCA.

“This conduct has serious implications with regards to ethics, confidentiality and the protection of information gathered during investigations by the Office of the Public Protector. It is also not clear why Advocate Madonsela decided to leak only the audio recordings of the discussion with the President, despite the fact that she had interviewed several witnesses.”

President Zuma urged all parties to act as guided by the Constitution and respect the processes that are unfolding in respect of the report. – SAnews.gov.za