Cape Town – ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has come to the defence of acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka, who has faced criticism for her past affiliation with the ANC Youth League.
Mbalula argued that Gcaleka should not be attacked based on her political background but rather on her ability to perform her job.
He said that past political affiliations should not hinder someone’s ability to serve the public.
“Kholeka has been attacked, including about her membership of the ANC Youth League at some point. Anyone can be a member of a political party, but when you resume particular duties you will not serve the party, you will serve the public.
“At any given point, somebody belonged to a political party. Any judge in this party, at some point in school, was a member of Sasco [South African Students Congress], an activist, but today they are judges. So are you going to be judged on the basis of your work or on the basis of your membership of a particular organisation?,” Mbalula said.
[WATCH] “Acting PP Kholeka Gcaleka has been attacked, including about her membership of the ANC Youth League. Anyone can be a member of a political party,”-ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said during the ANC NEC briefing. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/a3ILNZAxkO
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 16, 2023
Mbalula also said that those who disagreed with Gcaleka’s Phala Phala report should challenge it legally in a court of law.
Last week, EFF leader Juloius Malema accused Gcaleka and claimed that she cleared Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the Phala Phala farm scandal, with the intention of being “appointed as the public protector”.
“Gcaleka led the ANC Youth League with us, we are talking about yesterday. She was not just a member, she was a leader of the ANC Youth League in Gauteng,” Malema said.
“She left to be an adviser for Malusi Gigaba. [Gcaleka] became an acting public protector and exonerated the president and then applied for the position. She is seeking something; she was not supposed to be the one presiding over that matter [Phala Phala] if she knew she is interested in becoming a public protector.
“Now she exonerates the president because she knows the president has the majority in parliament, and he is going to have an influence in who gets appointed as the public protector. We have a crisis here; this needs to be looked into,” Malema said during a press briefing in Johannesburg.
Gcaleka has previously defended her report, saying that it was not biased in favour of Ramaphosa.
“I am confident the court would not find us biased. I am not worried that any malice would be found in the manner in which this report has been investigated.”
“This report has been well thought out. I am confident that this is a matter in which the public protector would not be found to have been biased, or to have dealt with the matter in an unbecoming manner.
“The court might arrive at a different decision — that is really up to the court but we are confident that we have done the best we could in line with the law,” Gcaleka said during an interview on Newsroom Afrika.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
