Zondo’s recommendations: Mapisa-Nqakula insists Parliament not ‘beyond reproach’

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says Parliament is not immune to criticism following the comments made by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Last week, Zondo publicly stated that he believed Parliament would fail to prevent state capture if it were to reoccur because nothing had changed a year later after the chief justice handed over his report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

His statements prompted a reaction from Parliament’s presiding officers, who then requested for an urgent meeting with Zondo to “clarify any potential misunderstandings”.

The three-hour meeting took place at Constitution Hill on Wednesday.

‘Cordial’ meeting

Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, Mapisa-Nqakula said the meeting was necessitated by the need to ease the “ongoing tensions” which may potential harm the relationship between the judiciary and national legislature.

“We have three arms of the state which cooperate and collaborate together, but once you pick up something that is likely to cause [tension] and give a picture to South Africans that there’s no stability in the state, it creates an impression amongst everybody that these people are not talking.

“We do not want to send a message to South Africans that there is instability in the country,” she said.

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The speaker described the meeting’s atmosphere as “cordial” and emphasised Parliament’s commitment to implementing Zondo’s recommendations.

“The presiding officers took the opportunity to clarify that the perception created that Parliament was not implementing the commission’s recommendations with the necessary speed is far from the truth.

“Both parties expressed their willingness to continue engaging on matters of mutual interest and concern, highlighting the importance of maintaining open lines of communication and cooperation between the judiciary and the legislature to uphold the democratic institutions that underpin our society,” she said.

The president tabled his action plan on the commission’s recommendations in October last year, and was later adopted by Parliament.

Watch the briefing below:

‘Beyond reproach’

Mapisa-Nqakula on Thursday highlighted that 11 of the 19 recommendations in the Zondo report, relating to the work of Parliament, had been implemented while eight were still underway.

She said Parliament had developed an implementation plan, and 22 relevant parliamentary committees have already been tasked with overseeing the executive’s actions regarding the recommendations.

“Under recommended legislative reforms, Parliament acknowledges the significance of legislative reforms suggested by the State Capture Commission.

Work is underway to address these recommendations and the Rules Committee has already reached conclusive positions on certain matters,” she added.

The speaker also indicated that most of the recommendations were, however, directed towards law enforcement agencies and not the legislature.

READ MORE: Cabinet can expect legal action for ignoring Zondo’s recommendations on accountability

A total of 12 MPs were implicated in the state capture report and at this stage, three MPs have been found guilty of violating the ethics code – including former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane.

Parliament previously recommended Zwane is suspended and was docked five days salary for failing to declare Gupta-sponsored travel and benefits.

Furthermore, five MPs – including the late Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Parliament’s chairperson of committees Cedric Frolick – have been cleared and two others remain under investigation, according to the speaker

“At least two MPs have since resigned from Parliament and so fall outside the scope of the application of the ethics code,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.

She added that Parliament’s presiding officers understood that the legislature was not “beyond reproach”.

Zondo’s findings

In the state capture report, Zondo stated Parliament “failed to use the oversight and accountability measures at its disposal”.

The chief justice recommended, among other things, that Parliament consider the establishment of a committee overseeing the president and the Presidency.

He also recommended the appointment of chairpersons of committees to include more members of opposition parties and improved reporting of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence at the end of term of each Parliament.

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