‘Something fishy about Radebe’s absence’
PARLIAMENT has put its stamp of approval to the report of the portfolio committee on police to not renew the contract of former head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Robert McBride.
This leaves the matter in the hands of the North Gauteng High Court, the only avenue left for McBride to appeal against the decision of the committee not to renew his contract at the end of last month.
This was after a total of 172 ANC MPs backed the report of the committee in the National Assembly yesterday, against five DA MPs.
The ANC said McBride wasn’t entitled to the renewal of the contract. Last week, acting Ipid head Victor Senna briefed the committee and assured MPs that Ipid would continue to fight corruption in the police.
Chairperson of the committee Francois Beukman told the House the matter was not about contract renewal. “The crux of the matter is that the previous director of Ipid, Robert McBride, entered into a contract of five years. The five-year contract does not include a renewal clause,” said Beukman, adding that there was no dispute about this.
He said the committee had done what it was supposed to do, in line with the directive of the High Court.
He said even McBride in his papers in the high court admitted that he was not entitled to the renewal of the contract.
Despite the non-renewal McBride’s contract, Ipid had continue to function properly. of to
“The committee recognises the important work of Ipid to deal with corrupt officers without fear or favour,” said Beukman.
But the DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard said the ANC’s decision to remove McBride was politically driven. She said there was no evidence that the former head of Ipid hadn’t performed his duties satisfactorily, but the ANC was determined to push him out. Nazier Paulsen, of the EFF, said they supported the committee’s decision not to renew McBride’s contract, but for different reasons.
He said McBride was not entitled to the renewal of his contract.
Both the IFP and the National Freedom Party also said they supported the decision of the committee and Parliament had a right not to extend McBride’s contract.It was now up to the North Gauteng High Court to rule on the matter when McBride’s application was heard.
The Helen Suzman Foundation is also proceeding with its application in the Constitutional Court on the appointment of the head of Ipid.
It argues that the decision should not be left in the hands of politicians. UNITED Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa claimed yesterday there was something fishy about Minister Jeff Radebe falling ill on the day he was due to attend a parliamentary question and answer session.
Radebe fell ill and was hospitalised on Wednesday as he was expected to answer questions in Parliament, including on the independent power producers (IPPs).
On Wednesday evening, Radebe posted on his Twitter account that he had recovered from the health scare, which he said had been brought on by the exhumation of the “mortal remains” of Ben Langa and his reburial in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.
“The whole process took a toll on my health and I could not attend to various public engagements. I have now recovered and would like to thank everyone who was concerned about my health,” Radebe tweeted.
A statement by the Energy Ministry said Radebe had been a close friend of Langa, the brother of former Constitutional Court chief justice Pius Langa, who had “died under very tragic circumstances”.
“If he was taking the debate seriously he could’ve delegated the task of answering the question to his deputy, so it shows there’s something fishy in the exercise of this business. But we must respect someone’s condition when he says he’s ill.
“We give him the benefit of the doubt, but in the meantime there’s no harm in answering questions in a written form and publishing it,” Holomisa said.
However, Radebe currently does not have a deputy as deputy energy minister Thembi Majola resigned in January, saying she needed to attend to family commitments.
Kevin Mileham, the DA’s spokesperson on energy, said they were disappointed Radebe had not appeared in the National Assembly.
“I’m very glad that he’s well, but I’d have preferred to see him in the House being accountable for his department’s stance on IPPs; for the fact that the Integrated Resource Plan has not yet been approved by cabinet; and for the fact that we’re in an energy and electricity crisis in South Africa. He needs to answer for these things,” Mileham said.
IFP MP Narend Singh said that if the minister was ill, people would have to understand. The EFF did not respond to calls for comment.