Mbete under fire for SABC report
She has no legal basis to withhold findings – DA
THE REPORT by Parliament’s legal services that identified people who misled the ad hoc committee which probed matters at the SABC will soon be referred to the portfolio committee on communications.
“The Speaker is considering a wide range of issues pertaining to the report. It is not gathering dust.
“She is processing it,” Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.
“Ultimately, at the appropriate time, it will be referred to the portfolio committee to be handled in line with the rules of Parliament,” Mothapo added.
This was after opposition parties had demanded that Mbete table the report.
The legal services handed the report to Mbete’s office about a month ago, but it has yet to be tabled before the national legislature.
This has prompted the official opposition to accuse Mbete of refusing to table the report because, according to them, “its contents no doubt implicate a number of her ANC comrades”.
The DA has not only demanded the tabling of the report, but has even filed an affidavit.
“It is shocking that members of Parliament have to go to such lengths to gain access to reports emanating from their committee work,” DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said.
It was previously reported that Mbete had sought legal advice and that she would first engage with the implicated parties.
Van Damme said Mbete’s duty to Parliament was above her role as chairperson of the ANC.
“Mbete doesn’t have any legal basis for withholding the report, and her explanation, offered in the National Assembly programme committee, that the implicated persons were being consulted doesn’t hold water.
“Parliament doesn’t have an obligation to consult with those who lied to it,” Van Damme said, adding that Mbete was obliged to table this report to ensure that Parliament performed its oversight role and that those who lied faced the full consequences of their actions.
“The DA will not allow those who lied before Parliament to escape accountability. We will continue to put pressure on the Speaker to make this report public,” she said.
Cope’s Willie Madisha said it was a pity that the implementation of the ad hoc committee’s recommendations was hitting a snag.
“We, as the ad hoc committee, have moved in unison at all times, but implementation is not taking place because of this woman called the Speaker,” Madisha said.
“This whole thing of the SABC must be implemented. She (Mbete) must do her work or go home,” he said.
The committee had found that in many instances, the evidence had been contradictory.