Madonsela under fire in Parliament
Opposition MPs on Friday came to the public protector’s defence during a committee meeting.
CAPE TOWN - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was on Friday warned not to take sides in the media that could affect the integrity of her office.
ANC Member of Parliament (MP) Bongani Bongo made the comment during a sitting of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice in Cape Town.
It sparked a fiery response from opposition parties.
Madonsela is in Parliament to motivate for more funding for the public protector's office.
When MPs were given a chance to ask questions, Bongo went on the offensive.
"That office seems to be taking political party lines, which affects the integrity of that particular office."
The African Christian Democratic Party's Steve Swart came to Madonsela's defence.
"To make broad allegations like that is totally unacceptable and I believe that you should rule the statement as unparliamentarily."
Democratic Alliance MP Marius Redelinghuys also objected.
Madonsela and chief executive officer Themba Mthethwa said the office is dealing with so many complaints that investigators would have to finalise one case a day to get through the pending matters in one year.
The CEO says they dealt with more than 35,000 cases in 2013.
The office has a total staff compliment of 333 people.
"At any given time, nearly 13,000 cases are active, this is a sampling that was done in 2013."
