Madonsela addressed the National Assembly Speaker and MPs through the media at the briefing when she said President Jacob Zuma should have asked about the costly upgrades to his Nkandla homestead and stopped the process immediately.
Newsgroups quotes Madonsela as saying: “I am deeply saddened that I have to use the media as a platform to address you (The Speaker of Parliament). I’m further convinced, honourable Speaker, that this mechanism of engagement was not envisaged by the architects of our Constitution. I chose this platform to advise you on Constitutional requirements of the Public Protector… and respond to utterances my office views as misinformation about my report.”
“The key findings on the president’s conduct… relate to what I made to the president having been alerted to irregularities (in the building process at Nkandla) as early as 2009. My answer whether or not the president should have done something to stop or inquire… is yes, the president should have done something.
“Public servants return money to government regularly when overpaid by the state.”
With regards to claims that her office specifically targeted Zuma, she said: “The report and all our functionaries who played a part, or had to have, played a part in determining what was procured [for the upgrades].”
Madonsela’s report found that Zuma had to pay back a portion of the money used for non-security upgrades to his homestead as he unduly benefited from them.
At the briefing, Madonsela compared her office with that of the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) and the Auditor General.
“None of these [bodies] have had committees established to do counter audits or probes.
“I can also not imagine a discussion of the AG or IEC report without engaging with these institutions… I also can’t imagine members of the National Assembly making disparaging remarks without engaging them.”
She also dealt with criticism that the Nkandla report was released through the media.
“The practice of releasing Public Protector reports through media briefings has always been set… and is a global practice. The investigation was requested by an MP… this meant that the manner of reporting was determined by the Executive Ethics Members Act.”
Her report was given to Zuma long before it was released to the public.
Meanwhile Mandonsela’s statement that Parliament is deliberately withholding funds from her office has been described as “baseless” by the ANC’s chief whip.
“We are taken aback by Advocate Madonsela’s allegation that Parliament is deliberately withholding funds to increase her budget to punish her for her investigation into Nkandla security upgrades,” spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said in a statement.
He said Parliament’s Justice and Constitutional Services Portfolio Committee had decided that Parliament should first look at the cases various Chapter Nine institutions were dealing with, before entertaining requests for budget increases. This was to make sure there was no duplication in their work.
Fact is – money is being withheld from her office.
