IFP member of parliament Mkhuleko Hlengwa during a debate on youth day on 11 June 2015 in Cape Town. Picture: Gallo Images / Beeld / Lerato Maduna
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) says it will not be drawn into “party political factions” following the precautionary suspension of ANC MP Mervyn Dirks.
Dirks was slapped with a suspension letter by ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina on Thursday for his “unbecoming” conduct.
This came after Dirks wrote to Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa requesting that President Cyril Ramaphosa be summoned to the committee to answer to allegations of mismanagement of public funds.
While the ANC has also initiated disciplinary proceedings against Dirks, Hlengwa confirmed that the matter was already receiving attention when the news of his suspension broke.
“When the news of Mr Dirks’ letter broke in January it was not news to us, and precisely for this reason it was deemed prudent to not throw the committee into the fray of the media campaign on this matter as it had quickly become a deliberate subject of speculation and assumption and politicking expressly devoid of basic understanding of Parliamentary processes,” he said.
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Hlengwa indicated that the committee received correspondence from Dirks in December last year.
“I acknowledged receipt of Mr Dirks’ email correspondence and agreed with him that the matter was serious and would receive the attention of the committee at the earliest possible convenience in January 2022 when Parliament resumed its work,” he said.
After having informed National Assembly house chairperson for committees, Cedric Frolick, on the matter, the Scopa chair said he then engaged with Parliament’s legal team on the matter.
Hlengwa insisted that the committee will continue with its work without any political influence.
“The committee does not draw into party political activities or factions and therefore due regard is given to avoid polarising the committee whose work, whilst in the political space, it must rise above party political divides and pay particular attention to the rules of the National Assembly, the Constitution and applicable legislation to our work.
“The matter brought before me by Mr Dirks, and being processed towards the committee, does fall within the ambit of matters which deserve our attention,” the Scopa chair continued.
He said Dirks’ suspension had “no material bearing” as the committee “reserves the right to invite or summons any person to appear before it to provide information, evidence, or representation”.
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“Furthermore, a withdrawal of the letter if it were to arise does not conclude the matter without due process as a report would still be required of the committee.
“The matter is now a subject of parliamentary process and the committee is seized with it and will take decisions it deems fit, necessary and appropriate,” Hlengwa added.
While Dirks has been prohibited to participate in any Scopa activities, Hlengwa said the committee is expected to meet with the MP next week to hear his representations.
Dirks had been scheduled to appear before Scopa this past Friday.
However, the committee meeting was not approved by the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly due to Parliament being in recess.
Parliament is set to reconvene on Tuesday, 25 January.
The matter relates an audio recording, where Ramaphosa is heard saying that he knew of party members who utilised public funds for their political campaigns ahead of ANC’s 2017 Nasrec elective conference.
Ramaphosa also conceded in the leaked audio that he is “willing to fall on the sword” to protect the ANC rather than reveal the party members’ names because he is concerned about the image of the party.
“Each one of us knows that quite a bit of money that is used in campaigns, in bussing people around, and doing all manner of things, is from state and public resources. We cannot kid ourselves when it comes to that.
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“As the people from State Security were testifying, one of the officials said, ‘surely, they will be revealing about how money from SSA was used for some campaign’. I said, heaven forbid.
“I would rather they say, ‘yes, you got money from this businessman for CR17 than for the public to finally hear that their money was used to advance certain campaigns’,” he said during a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC).
Additional reporting by Getrude Makhafola and Thapelo Lekabe