Parliament prepares process of dealing with Zondo commission reports

Parliament says it’s establishing “appropriate systems” to process and oversee the implementation of the reports of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

This after Parliament’s legal services department issued a legal opinion proposing a process that the legislature should follow in dealing with the reports once officially submitted.

Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo on Monday said, so far, President Cyril Ramaphosa had officially submitted part three of the commission’s report to the national legislature.

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The report, issued by the commission’s chair, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, related to the conduct of current and former Members of Parliament implicated in allegations of state capture.

“Part three of the report identifies several past and present Members of Parliament who are implicated in conduct that may constitute illegal, unlawful, or unethical behaviour.

“As the aspects of the report have a direct bearing on parliamentary business, the institution has swiftly initiated processes to implement its recommendations,” Mothapo said in a statement.

Ethics committee

He said Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests was requested to investigate possible contraventions of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interest for the National Assembly and members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

“This applies only to current members who were serving in Parliament when any alleged transgressions took place,” Mothapo said.

Ramaphosa’s implementation plan

Mothapo said Ramaphosa committed to submit the rest of the reports, along with the implementation plan, on or before 31 August 2022.

“While the official submission of all outstanding reports is awaited, Parliament has already started working on systems based on publicly available copies of the reports.

“Parliament’s research department is currently processing the reports, summarising them into, amongst others, action plans to improve Parliament’s execution of its constitutional mandate consistent with the corrective measures contained in the reports.”

Mothapo added that Parliament had an obligation to implement corrective measures from the Zondo commission’s reports with regard to areas where it had a role to play.

“Similarly, Parliament has a responsibility to oversee the executive’s and state agencies’ actions in their process of carrying out the implementation of commission reports.

“The Rules Committee will, at an opportune time, consider how best to process the reports and implementation plan in their entirety.”

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