The ANC yesterday moved to block another attempt by the opposition to have the Public Protector appear before the ad hoc committee on Nkandla‚ saying Thuli Madonsela’s report had “misled the nation”.

The committee‚ which is in its third iteration‚ has never called Madonsela to appear before it.

Some MPs met yesterday morning in a bid to decide whether to call other people to appear before the committee‚ however by the time the committee met officially yesterday afternoon‚ the ANC had decided that “We are not opening an investigation or reviewing other people’s reports. We prefer to stick to our mandate which is to deal with the Ministers’ report‚” ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude said.

All opposition parties argued passionately that the Public Protector should at least be given the opportunity to defend herself against some of the claims made by some members of the committee.

They argued that by only considering the report of Police Minister Nathi Nhleko‚ the truth behind what had really happened on the project was being “sanitized”.

However‚ senior ANC MP Mathole Motshekga‚ who chairs the committee to which Madonsela and her office reports‚ said “we should not and cannot apologise when we say the report of the Public Protector is misleading and has mislead the nation.”

He said that after the committee’s visit to Nkandla‚ it had become clear that the amphitheatre‚ kraal and firepool had not been what Madonsela led the nation to believe they were in her report.