Madonsela crash issue ‘still not finalised’

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane maintained yesterday that the matter of the damage to previous public protector Thuli Madonsela’s official vehicle in 2012 was not yet finalised.

During a briefing in parliament on Wednesday‚ Mkhwebane assured MPs that her office was working on settling the matter of the state-owned vehicle crashed by Madonsela’s son in 2012.

According to the judges’ handbook‚ which applies to Madonsela‚ her son could drive the vehicle only if she was in the official vehicle.

The matter resurfaced last week when newspaper New Age reported that there was a question as to whether the repair bill had been settled.

On John Robbie’s 702 radio show yesterday, Madonsela seemed puzzled that this had resurfaced‚ saying the matter had been handled by two different processes. Madonsela said if her appearance before parliament had not been postponed last week‚ she would have been able to explain to MPs that the matter had been dealt with as both the auditor-general and the Gauteng transport department’s fleet management service provider had cleared her of any wrongdoing.

“They both came to the conclusion that I was not involved in the matter‚ that I was sleeping. I did not give instructions for the car to be used‚” Madonsela said.

However‚ Mkhwebane – at her first media briefing later yesterday – said the matter was not yet finalised.

When questions were raised by a media house about the matter‚ Mkhwebane said, she had advised her chief financial officer (CFO)‚ Kennedy Kaposa‚ to check the documentation.

“The matter is on the table. We are working on it with the CFO. “We will engage the former public protector on taking the matter forward. So it is still not yet finalised,” Mkhwebane said.