No 'all boys choir' in Public Protector shortlist - chairperson

13 July 2016

Cape Town - Shortlisted candidates for the public protestor position should not be an “all-boys choir”, committee chairperson Dr Makhosi Khoza said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting to shortlist the candidates for the post, Khoza called on MPs to bear in mind South Africa’s non-racial and gender equal aspirant society.

She canvassed for members to also consider the women on the list, to replace Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, whose term ends in October.

“It will be an antithesis therefore if we come with an all-boys choir. It will not work with me and I’m sure it won’t work with other women in the house,” she said to loud and vocal agreements from female members of the committee.

She said the country was still in the process of building its non-racial character and the committee needed to have that in mind when shortlisting.

“I’m sure [ANC MP] honourable [Grace] Tseke will agree with me, probably because the outgoing public protector is a woman,” she said.

Criteria

She was not, Khoza insisted, telling the committee what to do, merely putting it out as a suggestion.

“I’m canvassing you now, we must have women there,” she said.

Tseke agreed “wholeheartedly”.

The interviews will be held on Thursday, August 11, as the committee members might have Woman’s Day commitments.

Around 64 prospective candidates, which include five who were added late as their applications had only been accessed after the closing date, had each been given questionnaires to complete and return to the committee.

Only 56 had responded by the closing date.

The committee on Wednesday discussed the criteria for shortlisting candidates, where members again stressed the importance of public participation.

In a meeting attended by African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, African Christian Democratic Party, other parties and with Khoza cracking the whip, members quickly agreed on the date of the interviews, the time allocations as well as the number of candidates they would like to interview.

In the relatively quiet meeting, members again stressed the need for public participation and moved the shortlisting to the end of the day as they wanted to look at the comments submitted by members of the public.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.