JOHANNESBURG – Awkward public exchanges continue between Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and her predecessor Thuli Madonsela.
In the latest development, Mkhwebane defended her decision not to release a report from Madonsela’s investigation into the Gupta jet landing at Waterkloof Airbase.
The Public Protector said the report was not released because the probe was limited to a complaint from a South African National Defence Force official, but Madonsela told 702 that Mkhwebane was wrong.
Mkhwebane then shared a link to Madonsela’s report, along with a letter sent to the Democratic Alliance’s David Maynier.
Madonsela told 702 that her investigations identified where the fault lines were that allowed the Gupta’s to land their jet at Waterkloof.
“We interviewed all the people who were on the task team and that came back and passed the buck on the lower ranking officials.”
Madonsela said she would have concluded the report and released it. “In my case, I thought was important because it went to the heart of our state and how you allow foreigners to get into a space, such as the National Defence Force.”
But Mkhwebane said her predecessor was the one who decided to limit the investigation to lieutenant colonel Anderson, and she would release a letter in which Madonsela told Maynier that she would investigate only the complaint relating to Anderson.
She said when the case against Anderson was withdrawn and she retired, she found no reason to continue with it.
Public Protector @AdvBMkhwebane clarifies issues surrounding the investigation involving the landing of the Gupta aircraft at Air Force Base Waterkloof in 2013. Follow link here to access full closing report: https://t.co/KpnoVann5V pic.twitter.com/pMwL5RR5Q1
— Public Protector SA (@PublicProtector) June 12, 2019
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