Cape Town - The Section 194 Committee heard on Wednesday that investigators were under pressure to finalise investigations because there were investigations that were long overdue.
This was according to senior manager for support in the office of the Public Protector CEO, Futana Simon Tebele, when he was cross-examined by Public Protector’s legal counsel advocate Mpofu.
Tebele was testifying about unreasonableness of deadlines investigators were compelled to set for themselves regarding the backlog of outstanding investigations.
”If you sit on matters that should be finalised three years ago, you are to be pressured because they are long overdue.
“If an investigation is moved from you to another person, naturally you will feel it is unreasonable with you. My observation is that the public protector demanded these things to be finalised, they were long overdue in the hands of different investigators,” Tebele said.
He told the inquiry that the deadlines that were set did not cut the corner in terms of quality of the reports.
“Deadlines and quality assurance still needed to be met.”
Tebele also said he did not know the cause for the piling up of investigations but institutions would carry forward matters they could not deal with in the past financial year to the next.
“I don’t think you will get a public protector who starts on a clean slate,” he said.
In his earlier testimony while led by evidence leader advocate Mayosi, Tebele said he was not intimidated, harassed or victimised by Mkhwebane and former CEO Vussy Mahlangu.
He confirmed receiving an audit letter when he did not meet his deadline, something other employees felt contributed to the culture of fear in the organisation.
“I was shocked to receive the audit letter because it would be the first time in my career. So it shocked my system but I understood the circumstances it was issued under,” he added.
Tebele denied involvement in the Vrede Dairy Farm project investigation, except that he was approached on issues of public-private partnership when a legal opinion was sought by the institution’s legal services unit.
He did not recall when asked if he remembered a discussion with the former executive manager for provincial investigations and integration unit Reginald Ndou that Mkhwebane said Gupta leaks should not be used.
“I don’t recall the discussion about the Gupta leaks and the decision taken around Gupta leaks as far as the investigation is concerned.”
Pressed on discussing with Ndou where he told him to drop the Gupta leaks, Tebele said: “My role in the task team was mostly to take resolution taken but the issue of discussing Gupta leaks I don’t remember it in as far a Vrede Dairy Farm is concerned,” he said.
He told the inquiry that he knew Mkhwebane from “our university days”.
When he was asked about a text message purportedly sent by Mkhwebane to former COO Basani Baloyi warning her to be careful of him, he said he was seeing the note for the first time.
He said throughout his working in the institution and with Mkhwebane, he never created an environment where he would not be trusted.
“I always believed that she trusts me and even today I still believe she trusts me,” he said.
“I see myself as a person who can be trusted in the institution,” Tebele said.
He later, under cross-examination by Mpofu, stated that he knew Mkhwebane as a hard worker for a long time.
“Knowing her from school days, she has been a hard worker. Knowing her in other areas she was working in, she has always been a hard worker.
“Seeing her in action here I thought she demonstrated that aspect. That is what I saw,” Tebele said.
Cape Times