'State capture' report won't be released until court process is finalised - Public Protectorv

19 October 2016

Cape Town –  The new Public Protector will not be releasing the "state capture" report until the court has given her the go ahead.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was briefing Parliament’s justice committee on Wednesday, where the report on state capture took centre stage.

MPs, including Economic Freedom Fighters chief whip Floyd Shivambu, questioned her on when the report would be available.

"I think we unanimously agree as political parties that the report should be released," Shivambu said during the meeting.

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance MP Werner Horn asked her to reveal the contents of the letter sent to Parliament by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to Parliament when she was requesting a safe place for the report.

An unfazed Mkhwebane fielded questions on the report, the backlog of cases, and allegations that she was a spy.

She refused to comment on the letter, and said the matter was before court.

She was in the process of preparing an affidavit, which was due on Friday, she said.

"I cannot release the report until the matter is finalised, the matter is sub judice. If I can be given an opportunity to respond on Friday," she said.

She was still consulting her office, she said.

"And I cannot commit to say tomorrow the report is released, because the court said it should be kept safe," she said.

She had not yet read the report, she said, which was safe and sound in the office.

"The report is kept safely in the safe of the head of legal services. I don’t have a safe in my office."

Questioned by African National Congress MP Bongani Bongo on the use of consultants to compile the report, and their security clearance, she said the report had been compiled by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Consultants were also used, including former Commission for Gender Equality commissioner Janine Hicks, who was in quality assurance.

She would not say how much it had cost to get the report compiled by PWC, and merely said they would come back with a comprehensive report for the committee.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.