Anaemic Public Protector budget an attempt to muzzle her

12 November 2015

The DA notes the Public Protector’s announcement that she will have to close some of her offices due to case load and backlog thereof that has been occasioned by severe budgetary constraints which is by nefarious ANC design.

Therefore, in due course, the DA will move for Parliament to establish a Standing Committee on Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy, so that institutions like the Public Protector can be funded directly by Parliament. If the ANC then wishes to deny the Public Protector funding, they can do so in full view of the Opposition and the public. 

The time has therefore come for the Public Protector to be funded independently of government departments- specifically the Department of Justice (DoJ). The Executive should not be in charge of funding the Public Protector, or any other institutions charged with holding the Executive to account. President Jacob Zuma and his cronies simply cannot be trusted with this task. 

Given recent attempts by the ANC and its representatives in Parliament to undermine the office of the Public Protector, it is clear that her office will not be capacitated as required. The ANC fears a fully-funded Public Protector. 

An ANC Executive and its elected representatives in government have shown complete contempt for the Public Protector and her work. Most notably, the ANC outright refusal to give meaning to the remedial action outlined in her Nkandla report ‘Secure in Comfort’ which found that President Jacob Zuma is liable to pay a portion of the R246 million of public money used for upgrades at Nkandla. 

We must safeguard the independence and investigative capacity of the Public Protector and other Chapter 9 institutions. President Zuma and the ANC would love nothing more than for the Public Protector’s office to not be able to effectively investigate corruption perpetrated at the hands of the Executive. 

We will not allow that to happen. The Public Protector must be appropriately resourced to be able to investigate every instance of corruption reported to her office. The first step is ensuring that her budget comes from Parliament, and not from the Executive. 

Statement issued by Adv Glynnis Breytenbach MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, 12 November 2015