Myeni must feel wrath of the house
One of the hallmarks of the Jacob Zuma regime was the disdain shown by some of his ministers and associates for constitutional institutions such as the National Assembly.
They acted with impunity, refusing to be held to account by parliament and other institutions empowered to do so.
That Zuma is no longer president does not mean this culture has disappeared. This sad reality was forcefully driven home yesterday during a parliamentary committee hearing into allegations of state capture at Eskom.
Scheduled to appear before the committee was former SAA board chairwoman Dudu Myeni who happens to also be a close friend of Zuma’s and the chairwoman of the JG Zuma Foundation.
Myeni, at one stage regarded as one of the most powerful political figures operating outside of formal government structures, failed to appear, citing the unavailability of her lawyers. Disappointed members of the committee have now ordered that she appears next Wednesday or risk being served with summons.
It was also revealed that the committee has been struggling to locate Zuma’s other associates, the Guptas, a family at the centre of the state capture allegations.
Committee chairwoman Zukiswa Rantho said they had been struggling to communicate with the family since December as even their lawyers seem to be of little help. These developments put into question whether the family and others implicated in the allegations of state capture would make themselves available for questioning when Judge Ray Zondo’s commission into the matter begins its work later this year.
If South Africa is to break with the culture of impunity of the Zuma years, parliament – and indeed the commission – would have to take steps against anyone who undermines their processes by employing delaying tactics.
In the past, these institutions were undermined not only because those who did so had a head of state backing them, it was also because institutions such as parliament were not insistent enough that rules be adhered to. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “New Dawn” would remain a pipe dream if parliament, and other institutions set up to check the powers of those in power, have no bite.