Baleka Mbete. Picture: Refilwe Modise
After concluding that in most instances witnesses provided contradictory evidence, parliament has mandated the evidence leader to identify the witness who misled the ad-hoc committee.
Parliamentary legal services were then requested to make a decision on those who may have committed perjury.
Independent Media reports: “The report was handed to the office of the speaker, Baleka Mbete, about a month ago, but it has not yet officially been tabled in parliament.”
The DA has been trying to access the report without much success, and has also filed an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, a request reportedly denied by acting parliament secretary Baby Tyawa.
Parliament secretary Gengezi Mgidlana took voluntary leave earlier this month to allow the parliamentary audit committee to probe allegations of financial mismanagement against him.
READ MORE: Ndlozi: Baleka Mbete is hopeless, shame
Tyawa informed DA MP Mike Waters on July 6: “The speaker intends to refer the report to relevant structures of the National Assembly in accordance [with] the National Assembly’s rules.”
Tyawa is said to have “assured” Waters he would be granted access to the report at the end of August and he could make a written submission, 30 days after receipt of the letter, on why he should be granted access to the report.
Waters described Tyawa’s response as “laughable”, and is understood to have had the report suppressed, as it is likely to implicate senior ANC and government officials. He argued Mbete was conflicted, as she wanted to appease the ruling party at the expense of parliamentary accountability.
“Despite Mbete’s efforts, the DA will not allow those who misled the SABC inquiry or who provided false testimony, under oath, to escape accountability. Lying to parliament is a serious offence and will not go unpunished,” Waters said.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo further told the publication: “In terms of the Powers, Priviliges and Immunities Act, a person who wilfully furnishes a House or committees with information, or makes a statement before it, which is false or misleading, is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both the fine and imprisonment.”
Earlier this week, a group calling itself Save Unizulu also accused Baleka Mbete and committee chairperson Cornelius September of not only sitting on an oversight report, but also of ignoring a court supboena. The Durban High Court granted the group a court date on August 25 to hear the matter.
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