Zuma's withdrawal 'right thing to do' - Madonsela

2 November 2016

Cape Town - Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says the withdrawal of President Jacob Zuma's application to interdict her swansong "state capture" report appeared to be "the right thing to do".

"It appears to be the right thing to do, as there never was a basis for the application in the first instance," Madonsela said in response to a texted question on the latest developments.

This was after Zuma's legal team conveyed to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that they had been instructed to withdraw his application to stop the release of her report.

Madonsela had been expected to release her report on October 14, her last day in office, but it was put under lock and key after Zuma indicated his intention to apply for the interdict.

New Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane took over on October 17 and said she would not be able to release it until the court process over the interdict was concluded.

The Public Protector's office appeared to be taken off guard over the latest development and said it would respond later about whether the report would now be released.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.