DA says it will keep trying to get parliament working again after Mbete’s refusal

In a statement on Tuesday evening, DA chief whip John Steenhuisen revealed the widely expected news that National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete had rejected their request to establish a parliamentary ad hoc committee to deal with the Eskom crisis.

The fifth parliament was dissolved ahead of national and provincial elections on May 8. This also included all its committees and their work.

Steenhuisen said that on March 20 the DA wrote to Mbete, calling for parliament to remain in session and for her to urgently establish an ad hoc joint committee on Eskom consisting of the portfolio committees on energy, public enterprises, and trade and industry.

They were reacting to Eskom having entered Stage 4 load shedding for eight consecutive days, costing the economy billions of rands.

Today, they received Mbete’s response, declining the request.

Steenhuisen referenced a parliamentary rule that during the adjournment of the National Assembly for a period of more than 14 days, the speaker, after consulting the chief whip and the most senior whip of each of the other parties was within her rights to establish an ad hoc committee.

“It is clear that in direct contrast to the powers and privileges awarded to her by the Rules of Parliament, the Speaker is taking her instructions directly from Luthuli House and is acting in the interests of the ANC, rather than the 57 million South Africans who rely on Parliament to develop and implement solutions to crises such as that of Eskom.

“It is inconceivable that the lights are out at Parliament while they are out across the country, too. The Speaker has a Constitutional obligation to ensure that the Legislature resolves the problems that the Executive is unable or unwilling to deal with.”

He wanted parliament to use its powers to pass “urgent legislative amendments” and “summon the relevant officials and ministers to account for the current crisis”.

Steenhuisen alleged that the ANC had no plan to resolve the problems at Eskom.

“The DA will not allow this crisis to continue unabated. I will write back to the Speaker, drawing her attention to the specific rules which empower her to approach the whips of parties represented in Parliament to establish this Ad Hoc Committee and to call Parliament back to session. The DA is prepared to form part of the solution and table our proposals on Eskom which will fix the mess that has been created over years of corruption and mismanagement.

“Mbete can no longer neglect her responsibilities as the presiding officer. Parliament must be the institution that will seek the solutions to South Africa’s biggest energy crisis.”

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