ANC condemns smear campaign against newly appointed Public Protector

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday expressed grave dismay over the baseless and downright defamatory claims made by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) regarding the fitness of Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold the office of the Public Protector.

"We wish to join all patriotic South Africans in condemning with the deserved contempt the party's malicious political campaign, whose real intention is not only to assassinate the character of a qualified and highly capable woman but also to tarnish the crucial institution supporting our democracy," ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.

"These reckless dirty claims are being peddled with impunity without even providing a shred of evidence to back them," he said.

On Wednesday, the National Assembly endorsed Mkhwebane for her appointment as Public Protector. All political parties except the DA supported her to take up the position to succeed the current incumbent Thuli Madonsela, whose seven-year non-renewable term expires on October 2016.

The decision of the House will be send to President Jacob Zuma for ratification.

Being independent of the government, the Public Protector is tasked with the investigation of misconduct in any state affairs and all spheres of government including that of public administration in the country.

The DA objected Mkhwebane's appointment, saying she "is simply not the best candidate".

The DA said it cannot support the nomination of Mkhwebane for the simple fact that her appointment would be unreasonable as she was by no means the best candidate for the position and was illogically preferred over other qualifying candidates.

"Ms Mkhwebane may possibly turn out to be a capable candidate for the position of the Public Protector. However, we contend that her qualifications and experience make her unsuitable for this position," DA Shadow Minister of Justice Glynnis Breytenbach said.

Responding to the objection, the ANC said the DA is known to be anti-women and would go to great lengths to malign their integrity just to prevent them from advancing to positions of power.

"We have witnessed the same posture in the Western Cape provincial government, where the DA shamelessly appointed an all men and mostly white executive," Kodwa said.

The DA's objection and its smear campaign against Mkhwebane also smacks of racist undertones which regards any black candidate before Parliament as incompetent and unfit until proven otherwise, said Kodwa.

The DA must not be allowed to continue with its spurious and damaging public claims without providing evidence to support them, Kodwa added.

The ANC demands that the DA immediately retract and apologize to Mkhwebane and all South Africans, he said. Endit