In what they have described as an avalanche of misinformation, political analyst Kim Heller and University of Zululand Professor Sipho Seepe have released a joint statement on allegations levelled against them pertaining to work they have done for suspended Public Protector Busiswe Mkhwebane.
The pair said they felt it was necessary to set out the inconvenient facts shared at the impeachment inquiry into Mkhwebane.
“First, we have been active in the communication and media space for decades. We have taken the view that the country and the public interest are not served by what we consider to be the propagation of a single narrative.
“It remains our stated conviction that the media is driven by too much negativity which has successfully drowned out many of the achievements of the post-1994 dispensation,” read the statement.
Seepe and Heller said that the Office of the Public Protector is a victim of this negativity.
“We do not believe that the current incumbent, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwabane, is perfect, but we believe that whatever commission and omission of errors that may be attributed to her have been unduly overstated,” added the statement.
They further highlighted that they were not the only people who believed this as advocate Vuyani Ngalwana SC, has also written an article titled, “The tale of two Public Protectors”, which they urged both the committee and media outlets to read.
“Second, while we had been in conversation with the Office of the Public Protector as far back as 2018 regarding possible provision of strategic communication services, our proposal was not successful,” they said.
They did admit to providing services to Paul Ngobeni, who is alleged to have been paid money by the Office of the Public Protector to give legal opinion and pen media articles.
The statement further states that the duo have offered similar expertise to other clients and believe that their invoices have detailed what they considered to be fair.
“It is the responsibility of the client to determine whether what is billed is commensurate with services provided. Our rates for work done over three months were below government recommended consultancy rates and well below figures mentioned in the media,” they added.
The Star