Imperialism has anointed its blue eye girl on the South African soil Advocate Thuli Madonsela

Last week the leading most influential world magazine Times, nominated our Public Protector Ms Thuli Madonsela, as amongst the top most hundred influential men and women in the world. Our people take the opportunity to congratulate her for the outstanding achievement.

Our Public Protector belongs to the category of icons, pioneers, artists, leaders and titans selected by the American magazine in recognition of their contribution towards the transformation of the world. In her editorial column the Managing Editor of the magazine Ms Nancy Gibbs, titled the most famous episode as the ties that binds the 100. 

The selected nominees will be attending the Time Gala dinner tomorrow in New York, where they will get a red carpet as they will be officially inaugurated as the most influential personalities of the world. This will indeed be a grandstand event of the most influential of our Mother earth.

According to her office, our Public Protector will use the opportunity of the Gala dinner to meet and share good practice and experience with the officials from the World Bank Anti-Corruption Unit, the office of the New York Inspector General and the Washington DC Investigating Unit amongst the others.

The main contradictions arise primarily out of the accompanying reasons cited by the magazine as a basis for the selection of our Public Protector in contrast to the role and the mandate of her office. It must be made clear that the office of the Public Protector cannot execute its constitutional prerogatives in isolation from the overall mandate of our democratic state.

The former Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank Lamido Sanusi in his motivation for the selection of our Public Protector says the following:

"Thuli Madonsela is an inspirational example of what African public officers need to be. Her work on constitutional reform, land reform and the struggle for the protection of the human rights and equality speaks for itself. 

As South Africa Public Protector, with her ability to speak the truth to power and to address corruption in higher places, Madonsela has been outstanding. To speak to corruption in higher places is often subversive and always embarrassing. 

The machinery of state can be called upon to intimidate or even destroy and eliminate whistle-blowers. It therefore requires extraordinary courage and patriotism to do what Madonsela has done." 

In the true sense of the word the reasons stipulated above are not consistent with the traditions and character of our democratic state. It is apparent that in its attempts to undermine the imperatives of our constitutional democracy, imperialism is setting the office of our Public Protector in a collision coarse with other organs of our democratic state.

The core mandate of the office of the Public Protector has nothing to do with constitutional reforms, land reform and the struggle for the protection of human rights. Our country has a national parliament which its members are democratically elected after each and every five years, a national Ministry dedicated to oversee rural development and land reform programme, and the South African human rights commission.

All the organs of our democratic state together with its people are mandated to work collectively in realising our noble objectives of constructing a non racial, non sexist, democratic and prosperous society. The ANC led government has indeed created the necessary conditions to enable them, including our chapter nine institutions, to execute their constitutional mandate without fear or favour.

The ANC led government has identified the fight against corruption as one of its main pillars on its efforts to build a better life for all our people. It is therefore ridiculous of Lamido Sanusi to insinuate that our democratic state  can use its machinery to intimidate, destroy  or even eliminate whistle- blowers. 

Our democratic government has set itself targets to reverse back the centuries old legacy of imperialism and Apartheid colonialism. We are committed to eradicate the features of poverty, disease and underdevelopment which have become synonymous to the living conditions of our people. 

It has become clear that the hullabaloo about the security upgrades at the official residence of our State President was not necessarily about corruption, but a ploy by those hostile forces opposed to transformation of our country, to instigate a revolt not only against our democratically elected President but also against the ANC.

It can only be morally correct that the Time magazine was supposed to appreciate the enabling conditions created by the ANC led government to meet the obligations of our constitutional democracy. Our government, national parliament and the office of our President have fully cooperated with the office of the Public Protector in its mandate to investigate the allegations of corruption at the official residence.

The report has totally exonerated the President of the ANC and our Republic from any wrongdoing. But the allegations by the Public Protector that our President and his family unduly benefitted are still the most unsubstantiated. 

We fully support the nomination of Advocate Thuli Madonsela as amongst the top most hundred influential people of the world by Time magazine, but this cannot be at the cost of the unity and cohesion of our rainbow nation. We are duty bound to defend the gains of our democracy no matter what comes. 

There is no any liberation movement or a political party in the whole world that has done so much to improve the living conditions of its own people rather than the ANC. Our liberation movement is playing a leading role to protect the gains of our constitutional democracy. No amount of any external force can stay on the way of the forward march of our people.

The only weapon to achieve our noble objective is to unite our country and its people. The ANC is the only political formation capable of leading transformation of our country.

We have a task to ensure that we vote for the ANC in the coming national general elections. Our democratic state is the most resilient.

Phatse Justice Piitso is the former Ambassador to the republic of Cuba and the former provincial secretary of the SACP writing this article on his personal capacity.

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