Scopa chairperson Hlengwa apologises to Busisiwe Mavuso over Eskom clash

Chairperson of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) Mkhuleko Hlengwa has apologised to Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso following a heated confrontation that resulted in Mavuso storming out of Friday’s meeting in parliament.

Mavuso had a heated exchange with Hlengwa after she said Eskom’s current board and CEO André de Ruyter would not be the “fall guy” for the mess at the embattled power utility that she attributed to the ANC-led government.

On Tuesday, Hlengwa issued a statement apologising to Mavuso for how the matter was handled and said that he would also convey it directly to her.

“On Monday, 25 April 2022, at its ordinary weekly meeting, the IFP NEC requested a briefing from me on the set of circumstances which characterised the SCOPA meeting… with particular focus to the interaction with Board Member Ms Busisiwe Mavuso. I briefed the NEC accordingly,” said Hlengwa.

“Whilst the NEC has accepted my explanation and upholds that the rules of Parliament were correctly invoked insofar as the construct of SCOPA is concerned, the Party asked me to reflect on the manner in which these rules were applied, and to give due regard to how Ms Mavuso may have felt, considering the sentiments she expressed on Radio 702 on Monday, 25 April 2022.

“I have done this. Accordingly, I wish to express an apology to Ms Mavuso; which I will convey to her in due course.

“I accept that the situation could have been handled better.”

On Monday, Mavuso reiterated her views during an interview with Radio 702.

She said she took exception to Hlengwa giving her an ultimatum to excuse herself and telling her to behave herself like a “naughty 12-year-old school girl“.

“I stand by my decision to walk out. That was disrespectful and actually very derogatory,” Mavuso said.

“If that conduct of walking out is politics of the gutter, as he [Hlengwa] puts it, then I wear politics of the gutter as a badge of honour. I’m happy to actually be accused of exercising politics of the gutter,” she added.

Hlengwa, who has since come under fire since the incident, said that he was willing to comply with all the rules should complaints be laid against him to the speaker of the national assembly, although he maintained that it was his “responsibility as Chairperson to caution against attempts to draw Scopa into partisan politicking in the discharge of its work”.

“I have noted the DA’s filing of a complaint against me with the Speaker of the National Assembly, and I look forward to appearing before the Powers and Privileges Committee, should I be called upon to do so.

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“Boards and Executives of all State-Owned Entities have a fiduciary responsibility in law. The Board of Directors of Eskom are the Accounting Authority of Eskom and thus carry the burden of responsibility and accountability.

“Oversight and accountability are often uncomfortable, especially when so much is wrong in the country, but they are a necessary exercise of our constitutional and democratic dispensation.

“Those who hold office through election, appointment or deployment must accept that they will be held accountable for how they exercise their duties, and for the performance of their respective entities,” concluded Hlengwa.

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