South Africa’s top anti-corruption official says she fears for her life after learning from an informant that hit men are being contracted to kill her, her spokeswoman has said.
Public protector Thuli Madonsela is a leading public figure who scored a major victory when South Africa’s top court ruled on 31 March that President Jacob Zuma had violated the constitution by ignoring her instructions to pay back some of the state money spent upgrading his private home.
Western Cape province has a reputation for gangsterism and organised crime but Masibi said Madonsela did not know who wanted to kill her.
“On 1 April, she received a text message from an informant, and that informant warned her to be careful. That person said a top gangster in the Western Cape was paid to get a hit man to kill her,” said spokeswoman Kgalalelo Masibi, confirming a report in the Sunday Times newspaper.
“She is concerned about her safety and security,” Masibi said, adding that Madonsela knew the informant personally.
Masibi said Madonsela had immediately alerted South Africa’s VIP protection service to the threat and that her security had initially been beefed up, but had since been scaled down.
“Security Services say that 95% of the time the informant is incorrect. But what if this falls under the 5% that is correct?” Masibi said.
She also said Madonsela had been told by the informant that the hit “should be made to look natural”.
Madonsela was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying she had stopped jogging and had become “cautious” about her movements.
The opposition Democratic Alliance said in a statement on Sunday that police must look into the alleged death threats.
“It cannot be that the heads of critical institutions in defence of our democracy can have threats made on their lives for acting in manner that is too independent in an effort to root out government corruption wherever it festers,” the party said.
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
Madonsela’s office, which has a constitutional mandate, probes misconduct and abuse in state affairs and can have several investigations on the go at any time.
Since her appointment as public protector in 2009, Madonsela has become known as a fearless anti-corruption official, with a steely resolve to tackle some of the most controversial issues in the country. In 2010, her office revealed a series of irregularities in the leasing of accommodation to the South African Police Service.
In 2014, Time magazine included Madonsela on its Time 100 list , describing her as “an inspirational example of what African public officers need to be”. She was also a recipient of the Transparency International “integrity award” in 2014.
