Public Protector: DA to move for R118 million budgetary increase
19 April 2016
The DA will today announce its budget proposals that seek to further capacitate a deliberately underfunded Office of the Public Protector during the Budget Vote Debate on Justice and Constitutional Development. This Chapter Nine institution is critical to fighting corruption in all tiers of government. Without these amendments the institution will be relegated to a toothless body and government officials, including the President, will be allowed to enrich themselves on the taxpayers’ dime.
To this end, the DA will move an amendment to the Public Protector’s budget to plug the R118 million shortfall to ensure a financially independent Public Protector’s Office.
With the Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela, announcing that she needs additional funds to investigate the Gupta brothers and their illicit deals with the state; it has become vital that her office’s financial independence be bolstered and free from manipulation by those who fear a fully funded Public Protector. One who discharges their mandate without fear, favour or prejudice.
The Office of The Public Protector is currently struggling to discharge its vital mandate to investigate government corruption and hold them to account. At present her budget suffers budgetary shortfall of approximately 45% that both the ANC in Parliament and the Minister of Justice, Mike Masutha, have failed to meaningfully address.
The DA has no doubt that this is by design and a transparent attempt to starve this office of the vital resources its needs to hold government corruption to account.
The ANC and its elected representatives in both government and Parliament 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' until forced to do so by the Constitutional Court last month. The Court not only found that President Jacob Zuma is liable to pay a portion of the R246 million of public money used for upgrades at Nkandla but in his vexatious refusal to do so; he violated his oath to uphold the Constitution.
The Public Protector must be appropriately resourced in order to investigate every instance of corruption reported to her office. The first step is ensuring that her budget allows her to do so and failing the Executives political will to act in this regard, the DA will not hesitate to move for her budget to come from Parliament, and not from the Executive.
We have powers to amend this budget. And we are going to use our powers to amend this budget. We will propose an amendment to Vote 21: Justice and Constitutional Development, in the amount of R117.9 million, to fully fund the Office of the Public Protector. We can find the money. And we will find the money.
Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, 19 April 2016
