Public Protector wins no friends in review committee

Mushwana was appearing before Parliament’s Oversight Committee, which is reviewing all Chapter Nine institutions, which in terms of the Constitution are bodies tasked to support democracy. However, according to a report in The Mercury, the DA’s Dene Smuts took issue with Mushwana’s view, and said that the ‘fourth estate was an indispensable part of working democracy’. She also criticised his view about the opposition. The committee’s chairperson, ANC MP Kader Asmal, echoed Smuts and refused to enter into a debate on Mushwana’s comments about the media and opposition parties. ‘The press are not obstacles …opposition parties are part of democracy,’ said Asmal. Mushwana said that he had evidence to support his views, but Asmal would have none of it. Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)

Mushwana told the committee Deputy Public Protector Mamiki Shai has now been delegated powers appropriate to the statutory nature of her office. He said his dispute with his deputy over the nature of her duties had been settled. ‘We now have dealt with the issue of who does what,’ he is quoted as saying in a report on The Citizen site. Last year a special parliamentary committee recommended that Mushwana delegate his deputy duties befitting her seniority, following Shai’s complaint that her boss had refused to give her meaningful duties. Full report on The Citizen site