had been cancelled as something more important had come up. No efforts have been made by the commission to reschedule.  The Independent Electoral Commission seems to be functioning well, as the 2014 elections had been found to be free and fair, but the shadow of a corruption scandal involving a contract for the leasing of property to the value of R320 million is hanging over the Commission. As a result of this, the Chairperson, Pansy Tlakula, resigned. Even though the scandal does not seem to be directly related to election processes, the commission cannot afford any uncertainty about its independence, impartiality and credibility. Therefore this scandal has direct bearing on perceptions regarding the state of democracy in South Africa.  The Public Protector has an ombudsman function and may investigate any level of government. The most notorious investigation of the recent past is Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s investigation of the so-called Nkandla scandal, involving R246m of taxpayers’ money spent on State President Jacob Zuma’s private homestead. Her findings that the President should be held accountable for the costs, saw threats against the Public Protector surfacing. This included personal threats, as well as warnings that she would be removed from her position and threats of litigation. Every possible technique has been used by die ANC to discredit her findings, culminating in an ad hoc parliamentary committee comprising ANC members only, finding the President had not done anything wrong. In consequence, Parliament has literally become a battle scene with riot police being called in to remove members of opposition parties for making statement contradicting the ad hoc committee’s ruling. The intimidation of the Public Protector is not unique. In July 2011, AfriForum requested the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders to come to the aid of the Public Protector after she was similarly subjected to intimidation while investigating yet another lease scandal involving senior police officials. As a result of her investigations, Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, as well as Ministers Sicelo Shiceka and Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde had to step down from their positions. In October 2014 her pleas for additional funding in order to be able to do her work properly, fell on deaf ears. What the outcome of this refusal will be, remains to be seen. The abovementioned cases prove that any action by a constitutional body that dares to criticise the ruling party, is a shortcut to intimidation and if possible, even destruction – an intolerable situation.