Ramaphosa assures transparency in Madlanga Commission findings

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the final report of the Madlanga Commission will be made public and that no one will be shielded from scrutiny. In a decisive statement during a recent National Assembly session, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that no individuals implicated in wrongdoing by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry will be protected from accountability. “I can give an assurance that no one who is either implicated or will be implicated will be shielded, and when the commission does its recommendations, we will act accordingly on those recommendations,” Ramaphosa said.

He was responding to a follow-up question during the question-answer session in the National Assembly from MK Party MP Des van Rooyen, who enquired whether his decision not to make public the commission’s interim report was intended to protect politically connected individuals. Van Rooyen said South Africans will naturally worry that powerful individuals like his relative, Hangwani Maumela, may be shielded from scrutiny. In his response, Ramaphosa said he has already gone public to describe the relationship between himself and Maumela.

“I do not wish to get into that, because continuous peddling of that information, which is actually misinformation, is completely incorrect.” However, he said the government will make sure that when the final report was issued, the South African public will be able to see what the commission said and what action is to be embarked upon. “So, no one, no big name or small name or whoever, however they are connected, will be shielded. We can assure you of that,” said Ramaphosa.

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Responding to the main question by ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli on his reasons to withhold the interimMadlanga Commission reportfrom the public, Ramaphosa said the commission has made recommendations with respect to matters where there was existence of prima facie evidence of wrongdoing. He said the recommendation covered the referral of wrongdoing to the relevant institutions for immediate criminal investigation and prosecution where required, as well as the suspension of implicated individuals pending the outcome of further investigations. “I directed the Minister of Police as well as the National Commissioner to constitutea special investigation task teamreporting directly to the commissioner. The team will institute investigations against those identified by the commission for such investigations.”

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