Public Protector denies insulting voters

The Public Protector denies unreservedly the allegations that she insulted ANC voters. In fact, she said nothing about the ANC and the elections that have already taken place.

In response to a question by Ms Leanne Manas on whether some leaders that have recently been appointed should be in those positions, the Public Protector responded as follows:

"Again, that is not my place to decide who should be in leadership, it's for society. What I can say though, which we were discussing with my team, is when society puts people in leadership, it doesn't necessarily mean you should repeat what you did yesterday. People have voted different political parties in various provinces and when we go to municipalities they will vote people (sic). Often the people they will vote-in are people who made mistakes previously. I don't think it is necessarily an endorsement of wrongdoing. It is probably in the hope that this time you are going to do things differently and you are going to do things better. It's like an abused spouse, really. An abused spouse just thinks that 'you are my childhood sweetheart, you once loved me and you tell me that you love me' and they stay. But they don't stay because they enjoy the abuse and they are giving you a license to continue abusing, they stay with the hope that you will change your ways."

For more information, contact:

Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson: Public Protector South Africa
(012) 366 7006
079 507 0399
kgalalelom@pprotect.org
www.publicprotector.org

@PublicProtector

Public Protector South Africa