In a majority vote of MPs on Tuesday, Kholeka Gcaleka has been nominated to become the country’s next public protector.
The parliamentary committee established to find the next head of the Chapter 9 institution is due to table its recommendation to the National Assembly on Thursday, which will then schedule a debate on the report.
Gcaleka would need 66.6% support from the 400-member house to ascend.
It would not be smooth sailing though, since other parties have rejected her nomination except the ANC and IFP.
Combined, both the ANC and IFP have 244 members in the house, which falls slightly short of the required threshold, which is 267 votes.
Also, that is based on the assumption that all the parties would vote as a bloc and individual members would not defy their party’s mandate.
In closing the session, committee chairperson and ANC MP Cyril Xaba said the process to select the new public protector was fair, transparent, and had public participation.
The DA, which has 84 members, proposed that the process to find a suitable candidate be started afresh.
“We hold the view that none of the candidates interviewed are suitable for appointment, given the enormous responsibility this position holds,” said DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach.
Breytenbach said all the candidates exhibited an alarming lack of knowledge of the legal framework they would be mandated to operate within.
The term of suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who faces an impeachment vote, ends in October.
The EFF’s Omphile Maotwe said her party objected to Gcaleka’s nomination, joining the DA and FF Plus.
Jane Mananiso, an ANC MP, said Gcaleka should be appointed, as she is both African and non-racist.
The ANC MPs in the committee agreed, saying Gcaleka is fit and proper to be the next public protector until 2030.
But the DA’s Werner Horn disagreed, saying that Gcaleka’s interview exposed serious deficiencies.
“She was at best evasive when asked about her time at the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority],” said Horn.
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