No-show from Gigaba, Hlengiwe
THE absence of Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize and her predecessor Malusi Gigaba from a parliamentary meeting to discuss the granting of early citizenship to several members of the Gupta family drew the ire of opposition parties.
It emerged during a meeting of the home affairs portfolio committee that the ministers were abroad. A full delegation of home affairs officials, including director-general Mkuseli Apleni, was sent to brief MPs. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said that while the presence of a full delegation from the department was appreciated, they were not responsible for taking the decision to grant Ajay Gupta, his wife Shivani, his mother Angoori and his sons, Kamal Kant Singhala and Surya Kant Singhala, early naturalisation.
“The people before us are neither responsible nor accountable for the decision that was taken,” said Steenhuisen. “The process has gone wrong on the exercise of the ministerial discretion.”
Steenhuisen went on to accuse Gigaba and Mkhize of a “co-ordinated attempt to duck out of accounting”. He urged the committee to issue the ministers with a summons to appear before the committee, a proposal at which ANC MPs scoffed.
ANC MP Donald Gumede urged opposition parties to respect the executive, and said the ministers were invited, and not summoned, to appear before the committee.
“It was an invitation to people who are busy. It is important for the three arms of government to respect one another. We have to respect the cabinet,” said Gumede.
Freedom Front Plus MP Corne Mulder said the ANC was singing a different tune, referring to the word “summon” and not “invite” being used during last week.
“I feel sorry for my colleagues from the ruling party. They are in a difficult position, they have to try and save face,” said Mulder. He said if the ministers indeed were “invited”, they had not honoured the invitation and should now be “summoned”. – ANA