Acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka, who has been roundly criticised for her report on the Phala Phala issue, is likely to be the next head of the chapter 9 institution after parliament’s ad hoc committee nominated her for the role on Tuesday.
Gcaleka put her first foot into the office after she was endorsed by seven members of the 11-member ad hoc committee set up to find the next public protector. She still needs a 60% majority in the National Assembly before her name is referred to President Cyril Ramaphosa for appointment. With the ANC in the majority in parliament, this is likely to be a formality.
After the interviews, some committee members hailed her as a young intellectual committed to the ideals of a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic SA.
But the DA, EFF and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) declined to endorse Gcaleka, irked by her finding in the Phala Phala farm theft matter, in which she all but let Ramaphosa off the hook.
The committee interviewed eight candidates last week: Tseliso Thipanyane, Kwena Thomas Ntsewa, Oliver Josie, Lynnette Marais and Gcaleka (all advocates), Muvhango Lukhaimane, Prof Boitumelo Mmusinyane and Johannah Ledwaba. Each was grilled by the committee for 90 minutes.
Committee member Qubudile Dyantyi spoke glowingly of Gcaleka. “Until advocate Gcaleka came and we interacted with her, I was worried we [did not have] a [suitable] candidate ... she dealt with my worries in the hour-and-a half she sat there.”
Dyantyi said that while Gcaleka had a “charged interview”, she maintained her calmness without being “stingy with the responses”.
He said that he was amazed by Gcaleka’s “level of readiness” to lead the office of the public protector.
“Here you have a young woman, she’s the youngest of those that came in front of us, and she performed beyond all of her peers who were here. I was amazed by her readiness.
“From where I’m [sitting], we have a public protector, she’s not just appointable ... in the Dyantyi bus, she occupied the front seat as the new public protector.”
The ANC’s Cyril Xaba, chair of the committee, said if the recommendation receives 60% support among the rest of the MPs, her name will be formally submitted to the president for appointment.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said, “we do not support that recommendation”, and so did FF+ MP Wouter Wessels.
EFF MP Omphile Maotwe told Xaba that he should clarify that the seven committee members in support of Gcaleka are “six ANC members and one IFP member”.
The seven-year term of Gcaleka’s suspended boss, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, will expire on October 14. Mkhwebane has faced an impeachment probe by an ad hoc panel which found she is not fit to hold office due to “incompetence and misconduct”. The National Assembly requires a two-thirds majority to endorse the report and have Mkhwebane impeached.
Meanwhile, African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula has approached the courts to review and set aside Gcaleka’s report on the theft of dollars at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
Gcaleka released the report, which the EFF described as “nonsensical and illogical”, on June 30. She said allegations of a potential violation of the executive ethics code by Ramaphosa were “unsubstantiated”.
Last Monday the Reserve Bank said its Phala Phala investigation, which lasted for about a year and involved legal advice and dozens of documents, affidavits and interviews, found there was no “perfected transaction” and thus no contravention of the exchange control regulations by Ramaphosa or his entity, Ntaba Nyoni Estates.
“No perfected transaction” means that the sale of buffalo to Sudanese business-person Hazim Mustafa, which was the source of the foreign currency, was never concluded as the animals were never delivered.
The Bank said there was no legal obligation on Ramaphosa or Ntaba Nyoni to declare the foreign currency under exchange control regulations.
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