Madonsela clears up law on MPs implicated in state capture

Bringing back to parliament the politicians implicated in the state capture inquiry is inevitable under current South African law, according to former public protector Thuli Madonsela.

Madonsela clarified reports that the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and the ANC had brought some of the politicians implicated in state capture involving the Gupta family and MK party leader, former president Jacob Zuma, back to parliament.

“As it stands there is no law that prevents someone that has been impeached from one arm of government to pivot to another arm of government.

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“No law says if you resign while under a cloud of alleged corruption or related impropriety, you cannot be a member of parliament. The bar regarding election to parliament is only if a person has been found guilty of a crime and sentenced to five years or more,” said Madonsela.

Madonsela added the challenge on the matter was the snail’s pace in progress regarding deeper investigations on state capture and prosecuting relevant wrongdoers.

She said most of the key perpetrators and enablers of the hijacking of state institutions and processes for personal gain at the behest of the two families had not been held accountable.

Replacements can occur

“An additional problem is that the Electoral Act’s interpretation has been perverted to allow political parties to replace persons on their party list that were subjected to pre-election public scrutiny and based on which such party got votes, with totally new persons who were not on the party list at the time of voting.

“These are matters that the Electoral Act review process will have to consider in the interest of democratising the pervert ed democratic processes and strengthening integrity.

“Until then, the people should confront political parties concerned regarding their commitment to integrity and concerns over conduct that demonstrates lack of such commitment,” said Madonsela.

When she was public protector, Madonsela conducted a preliminary investigation into state capture, which paved the way for the formation of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

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A state capture debate was sparked over the weekend after newspapers reported that MK was planning to send to parliament five representatives, including the former chief executive for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Lucky Montana, former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe, former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama and former Sars commissioner, Tom Moyane.

Last week, 53 of the 58 MK party members were sworn in and introduced to parliament and seats reserved for the senior former ANC heavyweights who were loyal to Zuma when he was president of the country and leader of the ANC.

Some members of the ANC fingered during the inquiry but allowed to continue with their work include the Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe, deputy ANC secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane and the party’s former MP, Malusi Gigaba.