Madonsela took leaf from Mandela, refusing to be both player and referee

Thuli Madonsela was South Africa’s third Public Protector, following after Selby Baqwa and Lawrence Mushwana.

Many people are likely to remember Madonsela far more than the others for the obvious reason that her tenure was the marked by the high profile investigations involving President Jacob Zuma.

Madonsela indeed proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the same ruling party that appointed her.

Is that ironic or not?

The ANC obviously miscalculated in thinking it had appointed a loyalist. Today ministers from the same party she hails from are in the queue to account for their suspicious dealings.

But a Public Protector, as the name says, is mandated to protect the public, not the state or the government and its allies.

The Office of the Public Protector is a chapter 9 institution and must never be used as camouflage by a governing party to cover its wrong doings.

Madonsela’s predecessors did not tamper with the ruling party. But then Madonsela was appointed in the same year that President Jacob Zuma took office, ironically by the president himself.

She never promised to be a loyalist

Madonsela investigated and addressed many issues but those in which the head of state features centrally – Nkandla and the state capture affair – must count as the most important.

Boldly going up against Number One, forcing him to answer her questions, was almost unthinkable until Madonsela did just that.

Nor did she balk at challenging his feared friends, the Guptas, or certain ministers or high-profiled state officials.

The consequences of her actions include the resignation of Brian Molefe, Eskom’s CEO.

Her integrity and good work has set the bar high for her successor and future Public Protectors.

Her immediate successor, Busiswe Mkhwebane is already under scrutiny.

But Madonsela’s appointment to the University of Stellenbosch’s law faculty as chair in social justice has also raised questions. Does the university want to ride on the coat-tails of her reputation or does it honestly want to draw on her expertise for its benefit and society at large?

I think Madonsela is still needed by this country and has a great role to play, especially in governance. She could be appointed to many positions in the field of justice for example.

Then, Africa at large is falling apart and people of her calibre are needed. She could join former President Thabo Mbeki and together with the likes of Advocate Mojanku Gumbi and Dikgang Moseneke, assist in the efforts to build the continent.

She also has what it takes to be part and parcel of structures such as the International Court of Justice. There she could be the voice, the representative and the lawyer of Africans.

Madonsela has served her country well – without cowering in fear or dispensing favour.

She has been an exemplary advocate. She represented the layman. She was a true servant of the public and the nation.

As a result of her good work people across the political and colour spectrum have even suggested that she should be the president of the country.

She, more than any other state official tested the constitution to prove that nobody is above the law.

She challenged those suspected of corruption from both the private and the public sector.

The ANC must accept that what goes around comes around.

During the years of transition while the National Party was still in power Mandela Mandela, on behalf of the ANC, challenged the NP and said it could not act as both a player and a referee.

The ANC wanted Madonsela to be both a player and a referee acting on the ANC’s behalf.

That was not right. Madonsela chose the right path and played a fair game.

The ANC should appreciate and applaud her for walking in Mandela’s footsteps.

I don’t think there will ever be a Public Protector like Thuli Madonsela again. That’s a challenge to her successors!

Thembile Ndabeni is a freelance writer. He holds a Masters in South African politics and political economy