Former deputy Public Protector‚ Mamiki Goodman‚ admitted on Thursday that she is suspended from her current job.
Goodman is now the sixth candidate on the podium. Fourteen candidates are being questioned by a parliamentary ad hoc group tasked with finding a suitable replacement for Advocate Thuli Madonsela.
After being asked about her suspension as the executive manager of the National Gambling Board‚ she explained that her suspension followed after she complained about a fellow employee.
She said: “We had an altercation during a meeting with my boss. Then immediately after my nomination‚ I received a letter that said that I said that my boss is biased.
“I apologised and we tried to resolve the matter.”
Goodman then stated that in terms of the notice‚ she was suspended.
She was previously deputy public protector under Advocate Lawrence Mushwana‚ whom she accused of sexual harassment.
Then in 2012‚ Goodman asked parliament to investigate Thuli Madonsela and the chief executive of the office of the public protector‚ Themba Mthethwa. The latter was accused of forging Goodman’s signature to pay himself a performance bonus‚ according to a Corruption Watch report. Although Goodman opened a case of fraud with the police‚ Madonsela allegedly wanted Goodman to withdraw the charges “because of the embarrassment the publicity would cause”.
Goodman later accused Madonsela of withholding a report on the DA-led Midvaal Municipality until after local government polls in 2011.
Parliament’s justice portfolio committee labelled the allegations “office politics” and noted that Goodman had “not been a happy camper”.
She omitted to mention this in the formal questionnaire all candidates had to complete.
On Thursday‚ Goodman said: “My view is that the independence of the Public Protector both as a person and as an institution and those assisting the Public Protector should be free from influence‚ free from control“.
“Only the law should be able to influence the Public Protector. The Public Protector cannot be pressured and manipulated‚ in any form‚” Goodman said.
In response to a DA MP‚ about her battles with the two previous protectors‚ Goodman said: “Whenever I am accused‚ it’s when I am trying to rectify the wrongs”.
“It is unfortunate that people view the people who are raising the wrongs‚ to be the one who is wrong.
“There was never any investigation undertaken for sexual harassment or anything. According to my record‚ parliament has never found me wrong on what I have raised with parliament.
“Regarding Advocate Madonsela‚ I just want to emphasise that as my duty as deputy public protector or even as a responsible member of and servant of the public‚ is to say what is wrong.
“If you remember very well‚ the issues that brought Mr Mushwana and I to Parliament‚ once we sat down we realised that the media took things out of proportion (on) issues we have resolved.”
'We had an altercation during a meeting with my boss': Would-be Public Protector
Former deputy Public Protector‚ Mamiki Goodman‚ admitted on Thursday that she is suspended from her current job.
Goodman is now the sixth candidate on the podium. Fourteen candidates are being questioned by a parliamentary ad hoc group tasked with finding a suitable replacement for Advocate Thuli Madonsela.
After being asked about her suspension as the executive manager of the National Gambling Board‚ she explained that her suspension followed after she complained about a fellow employee.
She said: “We had an altercation during a meeting with my boss. Then immediately after my nomination‚ I received a letter that said that I said that my boss is biased.
“I apologised and we tried to resolve the matter.”
Goodman then stated that in terms of the notice‚ she was suspended.
She was previously deputy public protector under Advocate Lawrence Mushwana‚ whom she accused of sexual harassment.
Then in 2012‚ Goodman asked parliament to investigate Thuli Madonsela and the chief executive of the office of the public protector‚ Themba Mthethwa. The latter was accused of forging Goodman’s signature to pay himself a performance bonus‚ according to a Corruption Watch report. Although Goodman opened a case of fraud with the police‚ Madonsela allegedly wanted Goodman to withdraw the charges “because of the embarrassment the publicity would cause”.
Goodman later accused Madonsela of withholding a report on the DA-led Midvaal Municipality until after local government polls in 2011.
Parliament’s justice portfolio committee labelled the allegations “office politics” and noted that Goodman had “not been a happy camper”.
She omitted to mention this in the formal questionnaire all candidates had to complete.
On Thursday‚ Goodman said: “My view is that the independence of the Public Protector both as a person and as an institution and those assisting the Public Protector should be free from influence‚ free from control“.
“Only the law should be able to influence the Public Protector. The Public Protector cannot be pressured and manipulated‚ in any form‚” Goodman said.
In response to a DA MP‚ about her battles with the two previous protectors‚ Goodman said: “Whenever I am accused‚ it’s when I am trying to rectify the wrongs”.
“It is unfortunate that people view the people who are raising the wrongs‚ to be the one who is wrong.
“There was never any investigation undertaken for sexual harassment or anything. According to my record‚ parliament has never found me wrong on what I have raised with parliament.
“Regarding Advocate Madonsela‚ I just want to emphasise that as my duty as deputy public protector or even as a responsible member of and servant of the public‚ is to say what is wrong.
“If you remember very well‚ the issues that brought Mr Mushwana and I to Parliament‚ once we sat down we realised that the media took things out of proportion (on) issues we have resolved.”
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