A media release on 18 August by the office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator addresses an issue raised during the interviews for the Public Protector position.
An allegation against Ms Lukhaimane was made in a letter submitted by the State Security Agency to the Committee. The letter alleged that Ms Lukhaimane had a criminal record, having been found not guilty of assault and guilty of dealing in liquor without a license.
During the interviews, Ms Lukhaimane took strong exception to the allegations and indicated that she has never been charged nor stood trial for any criminal matter and that both matters related to third parties. Ms Lukhaimane has since sought clarity on the alleged criminal record from the South African Police Services.
On 18 August 2016, the SAPS issued Ms Lukhaimane with a clearance certificate confirming that she has no criminal record.
“On behalf of the Board of the Financial Services Board (FSB) that also serves as Accounting Authority for the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA), we wish to reassure all stakeholders of the OPFA and the pension funds industry that the allegations provided to the Committee were due to an error that has since been corrected. The damage that this might have caused to the OPFA’s reputation that we have nurtured over the past few years is regrettable, just as much the damage to Ms Lukhaimane’s own personal reputation.”
Fortunately, this did not disqualify her from making the final 5 shortlisted to replace Advocate Thuli Madonsela as Public Protector.
