Magistrate Johannah Ledwaba
One of the candidates for the position of the public protector had in her questionnaire wrongly named the Home Affairs Department as a Chapter 9 institution.
The candidate also got it wrong that the Speaker of the National Assembly could suspend the public protector.
This emerged when magistrate Johannah Ledwaba was interviewed on Thursday as a potential replacement for Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
In her interview, Ledwaba said she was suitable for the position because there was not much difference between her profession and that of the public protector.
She also cited her experience and qualifications.
“The position I am holding now, I am a presiding officer. I uphold the law,” she said.
“I am accountable and I exercise my duty without fear, favour and prejudice. I uphold the Constitution and the law,” she said.
Ledwaba told the MPs of her impressive career in which she rose from being a cleaner and tea lady in the 1990s to become a magistrate.
“I was not raised with a silver spoon. It was harsh conditions,” said the Soweto-born magistrate.
“I wanted to be different when people were going dancing, being on the street, and I decided to be a friend with a book,” she said.
Ledwaba listed among her role models retired Judge Dikgang Moseneke and advocate Mojanku Gumbi.
“I wanted to be like them and I wanted to set an example for my friends and those who come after me that it does not matter where you come from,” she said.
She told the MPs that when she was a tea lady, “I knew it was not going to be my place but I needed to start there … it was like I knew I was passing through to my destiny.”
During her interview Ledwaba told the MPs the public protector was like a middleman.
“The public protector is there to give a voice to the voiceless,” she said.
When she was grilled by the MPs, her understanding of public administration and governance issues was found wanting.
During an interaction with EFF MP Omphile Maotwe, it emerged that she had written a book on gender issues, “Joy Comes in the Morning”.
“I finished writing and I paid. They gave it to me and it was having mistakes. I was not happy about it,” she said.
“They wanted to launch. I could not launch a book with grammatical errors,” she said.
It was at this point that Maotwe pointed out that it explained why there were grammatical errors in her questionnaire.
Despite a long explanation of how the error cropped up in her questionnaire, partly blaming Parliament for not giving her enough time, Maotwe indicated that Ledwaba had got it wrong when she listed the Home Affairs Department as a Chapter 9 institution.
“How is Home Affairs a Chapter 9 institution?” she asked.
Asked how she dealt with pressure, Ledwaba said: “I pray and will talk to God.”
When she was asked who could suspend the public protector, Ledwaba first said it was the president but then changed her answer to say it was the National Assembly Speaker as the national legislature made the appointment.
“National Assembly suspends, yes, it means it is the Speaker,” she said.
Cape Times
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