The Presidency has defended its decision to deny public access to the interim report by the Madlanga commission of inquiry, claiming this is done to protect witnesses. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed President Cyril Ramaphosa will receive the commission’s interim report on Wednesday. He said: “The final report will be made available to the public.
The commission will advise the president on areas of national security sensitivity and how those areas will need to be managed. We will cross that bridge when we get to it. “However, the report the president will receive on December 17 will not be made available to the public, and the reasoning is simple to understand.
Some who have come before the commission will be called back to continue with their evidence. Some had evidence located in specific areas, but not as broad as it was meant to be. Those witnesses are going to be given a chance to return to the commission to give that evidence.
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It’s not going to be helpful to start chewing and debating on something half-baked.” Magwenya said the interim report will assist Ramaphosa to get up to speed with where the commission is and some of the issues ventilated and covered. He said there had been extensive engagements to ensure all those who are due to appear and those who have appeared are provided with adequate security. Magwenya said security cluster ministers had undertaken to engage media leadership to look at ways in which witnesses can be protected and not be unreasonably and unfairly exposed to those who may seek to harm them.
“That process is ongoing together with the commission since the killing of a witness. There’s another aspect to this, which is the protection of whistle-blowers. There we have a process under way.
We have the Protected Disclosure Bill in consultation at a technical level in government before it proceeds to cabinet, and it covers a few areas. It covers all spheres of government, in terms of obligations with timeframes for dealing with whistle-blower information.” Magwenya said the bill proposes the role of a retired judge to oversee the levels of compliance with the process. He said there was a review under way regarding the witness protection process for all those involved in the Malanga commission.
This comes after three people of interest were identified in the recent murder of Madlanga commission witness Marius van der Merwe. Van der Merwe was gunned down when he arrived at his Brakpan home. He gave crucial evidence at the commission in November, claiming suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi had ordered him to dump the body of a man officers had killed during an interrogation involving “tubing”.
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