The real lesson of Madonsela’s Nkandla report

There’s more to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s Nkandla report than meets the eye.

Currently the focus, of course, is on a few key issues.

First, there is the reaction of a disgruntled public to the findings that R246-million of their tax money has been spent on the President’s complex.

Then there are the inevitable frenetic political manoeuvres already in motion – the opposition parties who have been handed pre-election ammunition on a silver platter and the ruling party forced to rally around a discredited leader.

With the election just more than a month away, they have been painted in a corner at the worst possible time. Their only recourse is to do as much damage control as possible by hauling out the big guns to try and destroy the reputation of the very woman they employed to investigate and root out anything that impacts negatively on public interest.

Frustrated that Madonsela is taking her job seriously and refusing to be selective in what or who she hunts down for the good of all South Africans, there will be a lot of ‘spin doctoring’ over the next few days and weeks to vilify Madonsela’s professionalism.

The point is, that despite all the intimidatory tactics employed right from the start, when she embarked on her investigation into Nkandlagate, Madonsela stood firm and refused to compromise her job description as Public Protector.

And therein lies an example for every honest South African who wants to see this country blossom into an efficient, corrupt-free State.

Like Madonsela, everyone of us should never tire of exposing and fighting misconduct and incompetence in the micro environments we find ourselves – be it in the workplace or dealing with local authorities and service providers.

Collectively and with perseverance, true South Africans will eventually outlast the selfish gangs of opportunists.