- A whopping 71 names had been put forward for the post of Public Protector, half an hour before the cut off time of 16:00 on Friday, the chairperson of Parliament's ad hoc committee on the recruitment process said.
"It has been absolutely amazing," said Makhosi Khoza, charged with the daunting task of finding somebody to take Thuli Madonsela's place when her term ends in October.
Even though Madonsela is not allowed to serve again, because the Constitution limits her term to seven years, she was nominated anyway.
"The response has been overwhelming," said Khoza.
During the selection process ahead of Madonsela's term, 32 people were in the running.
"There has been a lot of interest," she said. "It is quite exciting to preside over this."
Some names were hand-delivered to get them in on time, and Khoza said the committee's staff has worked non-stop.
She said she was determined that nothing would delay the process, and was hoping to give an update on Tuesday.
She wanted to get the names published as soon as possible so that the public could start registering comments or objections.
Source: news24
