JOHANNESBURG – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has described both the leaking of her private letter to President Jacob Zuma and the publishing of it as "not in the public interest" and said it would lead to "a climate of distrust".

Madonsela held a briefing on Thursday afternoon to clarify her position following days of public conflict between the ANC and her office.

Madonsela says she wants to explain how her office deals with investigations, and to clarify her office's understanding of the country's constitutional democracy. On Wednesday the ANC accused the Public Protector of failing to do her job correctly. General Secretary Gwede Mantashe accused Madonsela of abusing her office after a letter Madonsela wrote to Zuma was published in Sunday newspapers.

We are not walking through the forest without a trail – the path of constitutional democracy has been traipsed for 20 years.

She had written to Zuma last week asking when and if he intended to pay back some of the money spent on security upgrades at his Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal.

This was after her office found that Zuma should pay back some of the excessive spending on his property. He had dodged this by telling Parliament that police Minister Nathi Nhleko should decide if he should pay back any money.

Madonselsa said on Thursday that the current conflict and problems were not insurmountable.

She said her letter had been leaked by a senior politician and that the publishing of it had been "improper".

"In my respectful view it not only compounds the problem but highlights issues of mistrust.

"We are far from Paul Kruger’s label of scrutiny as the devil’s principle. But we are not walking through the forest without a trail – the path of constitutional democracy has been traipsed for 20 years," Madonsela said.

She added that her engagements with Zuma over the past five years had been good.

"His office has assisted mine. And there never was drama. There has never been any drama or lack of assistance on any investigation," she said.

The current drama, she said, was over a personal letter. The leaking and reaction of which amounted to interference with her office.

"So what do we do now?" she asked, stating that the current noise was "not coming from Government as an institution".

"My process has always been sobre and evidence-based," she said, asking that stakeholders respect boundaries.