Majority of staff at Public Protector SA suffering from severe psycho-emotional distresses, MPs told

CAPE TOWN - Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka said that the majority of her staff was suffering from psycho-emotional distresses and stress owing to heavy workloads and the upheavals it's faced over the past year.

The office dealt with over 10,000 cases in the past year.

Discussions on the annual report of the office turned into a fiery exchange on Thursday, as past and present Public Protectors traded barbs in Parliament's justice committee meeting.

Gcaleka said she believed it a conflict of interest to have the former Public Protector, now an MP, grill her staff about matters ventilated in her impeachment inquiry.

Chairperson Xola Nqola had his hands full trying to contain the tit-for-tat spat between Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka and her predecessor, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP, Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

Even Mkhwebane's husband, MK MP David Skosana, joined the fray after Gcaleka accused him of sending threatening messages to her CEO, Thandi Sibanyoni.

Gcaleka told the committee that since Mkhwebane's departure a year ago, the office has had to rebuild itself and reassess its processes.

"We really inherited an institution which was an institution in crisis, which really required a quick turnaround strategy considering how it’s placed within our constitutional democracy."

Gcaleka said she would be meeting the finance minister and the president this week to discuss the impact of budget cuts on her office.

"We are an institution in ailment both structurally and in terms of human capital. The majority of staff at Public Protector South Africa suffer from severe psycho-emotional distresses."

On the upside, Parliament heard that the office was facing far fewer legal challenges than in the past and its irregular expenditure had come down from almost R19 million to just more than R5 million in the year under review.

However, only around 29% of the remedial action prescribed by the Public Protector was being implemented, still a marked improvement over the 2% two years ago.