Allegations against the Public
Protector baseless
Wednesday,
06 July 2011
We have noted media reports and enquiries about allegations
against me relating to a period when I was a fulltime
Commissioner at the South African Law Reform Commission (SLRC),
a statutory body linked to the Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development.
The allegations are baseless and malicious. I have never
been accused of fraud and corruption.
I owned a company called Waweth, a Policy and Law Research
Agency, which I managed directly from 2003 – 2007 and then
employed an Executive Manager to manage it when I became a
Commissioner at the SLRC in 2007. The company was closed
when I became a Public Protector in 2009.
I have ascertained that Waweth was involved in about three
or so small contracts with the Department of Justice, the
main one involving the sale of books recommended by the
Department of Public Service and Administration. By last
night we assessed the value of the contracts to about R46
000.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development was
aware of the fact that I owned Waweth and the National
Treasury became aware of the company when I made submissions
relating to my salary as a Commissioner.
My involvement in Waweth was always above board and at no
point was it ever concealed. In a number of documents and
publications of the SALRC where I featured, it showed that I
was part of Waweth.
It is unfortunate that there are these reports that seek to
distract us from the work we are doing in terms of our
constitutional mandate. The timing of the reports on the day
that was mistakenly reported to be the day when the SAPS
Durban lease report would be made public is also suspect.
My office will not be sidetracked nor deterred from pursuing
its constitutional mandate. I have a job to do and I will do
it to the best of my abilities. I will not stop speaking
truth to power on the basis of impartiality and independence
as demanded by the Constitution.
For more information, contact:
Kgalalelo Masibi
Senior Manager: Outreach, Education and Communication
Public Protector South Africa
(012) 366 7006
079 507 0399
Kgalalelom@pprotect.org
www.publicprotector.org
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