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South Africa's Chapter Nine Institutions are the bedrock of our democracy. One of these is the Office of the Public Protector, an institution designed to uphold and protect the public's interest and a critical part of our Constitutional state. If today's meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee to elect a new Public Protector is anything to go by, however, the ANC regards this institution and, by implication, our Constitution, as nothing more than an inconvenience, which it does not taken seriously or respect.

The following happened at today's meeting:

First, bad planning meant the meeting coincided with the ad hoc committee to elect the new Human Rights Commissioners, splitting attendance - something which affected the opposition more acutely than the ANC but nevertheless meant it was impossible by first principles to get a full attendance.

Thus there was no quorum. Only four members were present, two ANC members one DA and one from the IFP. Eight is needed for quorum.

Second, the meeting was scheduled for 09h00 but only started at 09h45, because the committee secretary was still trying to find members to attend, something he did not manage.

Third, because on the first two occasions that this committee met there was no quorum, the committee will have to shortlist and interview candidates, bring the recommendation to Parliament, have the recommendation approved by Parliament, and then have the recommendation ratified by the President, by the date upon which the Public Protector must take office, which is 1 October. This is quite simply mad.

To exacerbate matters, the committee chairperson has re-opened the shortlist. The short amount of time (one month) allocated to this process is unreasonable and undermines the committee's ability to properly consider the applications before it can make an informed decision.

Fourth, the fact that the advertisements for the Public Protector post were rolled out two days before a national election meant that very few nominations were received. Though there are some good nominations, 15 of the 31 CVs did not even meet minimum requirements.

This entire process has been badly managed from the get go and shows nothing more than disdain for the Office of the Public Protector and everything it represents.