DA fights report hush-up

CITIZEN REPORTER

JOHANNESBURG - Parliament is turning a blind eye to serious allegations contained in a damning KPMG forensic report, according to Democratic Alliance chief whip Ian Davidson.

The report related to a misconduct inquiry into Parliament’s secretary Zingile Dingani, who was accused of trying to cover up wrongdoing by Parliament’s chief legal adviser and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) secretary Lulama Matyolo-Dube.

Dingani was subsequently cleared.

“Parliament’s secretive and uncooperative response to the KPMG forensic report illustrates a chronic lack of willingness to carry through on its own commitments to resolve ongoing abuses of power by its top officials,” Davidson said.

“Up until now, very little proper action has been taken by Parliament to deal with exceptionally serious matters arising from a report that was finalised more than three months ago.

“The DA, having now seen a copy of the report, will embark on a course of action to see to it that the report’s findings are acted upon, and that the report is officially made public.

“It is essential that the public and media are aware of the key findings of this report,” he said.

Davidson said four matters warrant particularly urgent attention:

n Sections of the report offer no conclusions, apparently as a consequence of the failure of parliamentary officials to co-operate with investigators.

n The apparent targeting of certain individuals such as Zingile Dingani, the suspended secretary to Parliament.

n The contents of the report were finalised in March, and allegations have been circulating for almost a year, yet no proper disciplinary action appears to have been taken against the NCOP’s Matyolo-Dube.

n The secrecy surrounding the report.

Even some members of the Parliamentary Oversight Authority have been denied access to the report.

Davidson said: “This whole matter leaves the impression that there has been a clandestine attempt to purge Parliament of its Mbeki-aligned officials, even while sparing disciplinary hearings against those guilty of manifestly serious abuses of public office.”