Question NW1840 to the President of the Republic
21 July 2017 - NW1840
Carter, Ms D to ask the President of the Republic
Whether, with reference to the report of the Public Protector entitled State of Capture, the report of the probe sponsored by the SA Council of Churches entitled Unburdening Panel, the report compiled by academics entitled Betrayal of the Promise: How the Nation is Being Stolen and the publication of countless emails that collaborate the content of the specified reports and implicate his son, members of the executive, ambassadors and senior officials, he, as Head of Government, has found that (a) his delay in taking action in this regard and (b) the response from Cabinet that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty are adequate, despite evidence that suggests that, on the balance of probabilities, unethical and unlawful conduct has been committed; if not, what steps does he intend to take in respect of the reports and emails; if so, what are the relevant details in this regard?
Reply:
The Public Protector's Report entitled State of Capture only makes inconclusive observations and does not make any findings against any person. The Report calls for further investigations of the allegations. As the Honourable Member may be aware, I have instituted review proceedings against the remedial action of the Public Protector and the matter is provisionally set down for a hearing in Court from 24 - 26 October 2017. A proper investigation on these allegations will be conducted once the Court has clarified the contentious issues.
I would like to reiterate the Government's position that any person, including the authors of the reports referred to in the Honourable Member’s question, who have information about any wrongdoing by any individual to inform the law-enforcement agencies so that investigations can be undertaken.
It is my considered view that this is the proper and lawful way to deal with all the allegations of unlawful conduct.