Africa-Press – South-Africa. As the clock ticks down for Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee probing police corruption to conclude its work, MPs have been in a tit-for-tat battle on Monday over who their final witnesses should be.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has accused the African National Congress (ANC) of trying to block President Cyril Ramaphosa from appearing, as well as former Police Minister Fikile Mbalula. Meanwhile, ANC MPs say if Ramaphosa is forced to testify, then so must former President and now leader of the MK Party, Jacob Zuma.
The MK Party’s Vusi Shongwe says the ANC’s Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula must respond to testimony about a cellphone grabber acquired from the police budget for the ANC’s 2017 national conference during his tenure as Minister. Shongwe further argues that President Cyril Ramaphosa must clarify his position on the disbanding of the political killings task team.
“We are sitting here and we don’t know whether President Ramaphosa agreed to the disbanding of the political killings task team, or disagreed. Where is he standing on the matter?”
However, the ANC’s Khusela Sangoni—Ramaphosa’s former spokesperson—says a written submission will suffice. She was backed up by ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli, who reminded the committee that it had previously taken a decision that it was not necessary to call the President.
“We’ve got many other platforms through which we can make the president account for whichever issues we believe have not been sufficiently dealt with in the submission that he will make to the ad hoc committee.”
The ANC says if the MK Party insists that Ramaphosa must appear, then it will insist former Public Protector turned MK member Busisiwe Mkhwebane do so too. This is to respond to allegations that she allegedly interfered in the work of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
Notably, Mkhwebane’s husband, the MK Party’s David Skosana, also sits on the Ad Hoc Committee.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
