ANC, DA differ on Nkandla committee mandate

THE battle lines are already being drawn for the struggle that will rage between opposition parties and the African National Congress (ANC) in the special parliamentary committee that will investigate the R246m upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’s private Nkandla home.

At issue will be what the committee may look into according to the mandate given to it by National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu.

It also emerged on Thursday that Mr Zuma and the ANC could face a freewheeling debate of the Nkandla issue on the floor of the National Assembly if Parliament is recalled to deal with any report that the ad hoc committee might produce.

The issue that will be primary for the committee will be whether it is confined to dealing only with Mr Zuma’s response to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s damning report or if it can look into Ms Madonsela’s findings themselves.

Ms Madonsela found that Mr Zuma and his family had materially benefited from non-security aspects of the upgrade. She recommended he should pay the money back.

On Thursday, Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko told a news conference that she did not believe that the committee had a limited mandate.

"I am not stressed by the terms of reference and believe that there is ample room for the committee to consider the public protector’s report, Mr Zuma’s response to it and the proclamation issued for the Special Investigating Unit to probe the Nkandla issue."

ANC chief whip in the National Assembly Stone Sizani was of a different view.

"The decision to establish the committee was taken in line with the applicable rule enabling the speaker to establish a committee of this nature during a parliamentary recess and following consultation with the chief whip of the majority party and other parties. The ad hoc committee will restrict itself to its mandate outlined in the points of reference and report back to the National Assembly with recommendations where applicable," he said.

Ms Mazibuko said if the ANC in the committee attempted to use its majority to limit the mandate of the committee then "that will be between them and their consciences and their voters".

Mr Sizani criticised the DA’s position saying, "contrary to the opportunistic, misguided and deliberately misleading electioneering rhetoric from the DA, the ad hoc committee has absolutely nothing to do with either the so-called impeachment or the DA’s request for the establishment of a ‘committee to impeach’ the president.

"It is natural that Parliament, as the supreme representative of the people in terms of our constitutional democracy, would develop a special process to consider a matter of national importance as this one."

The notion that the committee had some relation to "impeachment" was nothing but wishful thinking and self-deception which was not borne out by any fact.

What might be causing some concern in the ANC was the timing of the matter.

The committee has been given until April 30 to complete its work meaning that the National Assembly will have a scant six days to consider its report on the Nkandla project.

The national elections will be held on May 7.

- BDLive