Early Breakfast

The Public Protector should prioritise investigations instead of prioritising complaints against Minister Pravin Gordhan that have been comprehensively dealt with by other entities.

So said Lawson Naidoo (Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution) on Bruce Whitfield’s The Money Show on Thursday.

What other investigations have been sacrificed as a result of this singular pursuit?... It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that she is playing politics… it is the (mis)conduct of the public protector that should be scrutinised…

— Lawson Naidoo, Executive Secretary - Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution

Oupa Segalwe (Head of Communications for the Public Protector) called in to reply.

He explained that the Public Protector has around 160 investigators spread across the country investigating thousands of cases.

The fact that the media takes an interest in one case because it involved a prominent person does not mean that we’re prioritising that case… The Public Protector must investigate upon receipt of a complaint alleging a breach of the executive ethics code…

— Oupa Segalwe, Head of Communications - Public Protector

Definitely, she is [a person of integrity]. She’s just been smeared by people who don’t want her to be in office for whatever reason… The fact that a decision of an adjudicator has been set aside doesn’t mean they’re incompetent…

— Oupa Segalwe, Head of Communications - Public Protector

Listen to Segalwe’s defence of Mkhwebane in the audio below.

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