Opposition parties lobby for a separate State Capture parliamentary committee
Opposition parties in Parliament have urged Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to exclude the ANC from any committees that will look into allegations of State Capture against MPs.
n their first meeting with National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, opposition party representatives suggested that a committee be established to deal solely with State Capture. They took a firm stance that the ANC be excluded from the structure as its members are implicated in the State Capture report.
Party representatives in attendance felt it would be unfair for the governing party to be included as it would be likely to have the most seats in the committee. They also said it was not fair for the ANC to be referee and player in the committees as this would result in many of its members not being held accountable.
They appealed to the Speaker to act swiftly in establishing a separate committee that would focus on State Capture, adding that Parliament’s joint ethics committee would need to be assisted.
They held a meeting with Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday afternoon to discuss concerns about the workings of Parliament. Representatives from the African Transformation Movement, Al Jama-ah, Congress of the People, DA, EFF, Freedom Front Plus, IFP, National Freedom Party and United Democratic Movement were part of the discussions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been mandated to submit an implementation plan to Parliament in response to the State Capture report. However, the sentiment at the meeting was that the National Assembly should go ahead with its own plan.
The Speaker did not say which direction she would take, but reiterated that she had already sent letters to those implicated to inform them that the joint ethics committee would conduct a probe.
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