Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A reputation choked by ashes
Sneers and taunts fill Parliament
IT WAS hard to imagine in March when the Constitutional Court delivered its withering judgment of Parliament’s handling of the Nkandla affair that the legislature’s reputation could sink any lower.
In essence, the court found the nation’s public representatives had shrunk from their duty to the people to hold the executive to account.
That is, to ensure, among others, that the government, and in this case the president, complied with the laws Parliament had passed.
Coming on top of the unseemly scenes, which have become a regular feature, of EFF MPs being dragged from the chamber with a Nero-esque President Jacob Zuma delighting in the spectacle, the judgment extinguished the few remaining embers of Parliament’s credibility.
Or so it seemed, until SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng and his merry choir of fellow senior executives, board members and the ever-loyal Communications Minister Faith Muthambi pulled into town and poured scorn all over the ashes the Constitutional Court judgment had left behind.
“Why should I account to you when you don’t give me any money?” Motsoeneng sneered.
There was a time when this kind of insolence from a government official – towards the MPs to whom he is expected in law to account – was unthinkable.
But Motsoeneng was not done yet demonstrating his contempt for Parliament, proceeding to question whether “some” MPs were in fact honourable, then deciding the question himself with the declaration that they were not.
For this he received a gentle chiding from communications committee chairman Humphrey Maxegwana and an instruction to withdraw.
“Did I say that?” Motsoeneng wondered aloud and, when the question was met with a universal “Yes”, deigned to withdraw. But the point had been made. Motsoeneng no longer accounts to Parliament, nor does the SABC, Muthambi, or anyone else who believes their actions have the support of the one person actually in a position to do anything about them – Zuma himself.
In fact Motsoeneng has never accounted to Parliament, any more than the president; it’s just that he previously at least made the pretence of doing so. The game has changed now. The ANC is reeling and disorientated from its elections humiliation and is unable to muster a semblance of unity or purpose.
First there was going to be an inquiry into the SABC shambles, then there wasn’t.
First the ANC national executive committee resolved to fix the mess, then its MPs on the committee fell all over each other, with the partial exception of Maxegwana and MP Sharome van Schalkwyk, to be the first to swallow the hogwash Muthambi, Motsoeneng, board member Aaron Tshidzumba and acting chief executive James Aguma dished up in explanation for the serial firings and resignations of journalists and senior management that have characterised the broadcaster in recent months.
It was all the result of a conspiracy to discredit the ANC government, they claimed, and the ANC MPs lapped it up, thanking the SABC delegation for exposing the “truth”.
But, while the ANC MPs on the committee left the SABC journalists twisting in the breeze in the morning, ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu took the opposite tack in the afternoon.
Reflecting on the ANC’s humbling at the polls, he said: “We further regret that some stateowned enterprises have not been acting in the best interest of our people, including the South African Airways, SABC and Eskom on renewable energy.”
There could be no clearer indicator of the disarray in the party – apart from the yawning gaps in its ranks during the debate Mthembu was addressing – than the man whose job is to manage party discipline being flagrantly contradicted by his own MPs, yet carrying on as though it never happened.
On the other end of the spectrum, the chairwoman of the ad hoc committee to choose a new public protector, ANC MP Makhosi Khoza earned the admiration of even the EFF through her deft handling of what could have been a fractious process.
“We want more chairs like you,” EFF leader Julius Malema told Khoza after the choice had been made.
That Khoza was able to achieve this with the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu and the ANC’s Bongani Bongo – who have previously come close to blows – sitting on the committee throughout the gruelling process, speaks volumes not only about her democratic instincts but her easygoing manner.
It also suggests she was given free rein to manage the process as she saw fit – in stark contrast to the unfortunate Maxegwana.
But this one flicker of light in Parliament seems likely to be snuffed out as the post-election focus shifts back to the relationship between the executive and the legislature.
The parliamentary programme is now back in full swing and a barrage of shocks to its limp form awaits.
There’s the outstanding matter of SAA’s financial statements, now almost a year overdue, while Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Zuma stare each other down over the appointment the minister seeks of a Dudu Myeni-less board.
That’s before this year’s batch of annual reports comes rolling in over the next month or so, containing all manner of hot potatoes for MPs to handle.
Just how much did the SABC rack up in losses in the past year?
How much exactly did the SABC cough up to see the back of former chief executive Frans Matlala, who alleged before he opted to grab the cash and go quietly, that he was being hounded from office for co-operating with a Treasury investigation into the contract to build a new digital studio?
What did the Treasury find and, oh, while we’re at it, what has it sniffed out in its review of Eskom coal contracts that caused the Gupta-owned Tegeta to seek an interdict to prevent it from releasing the results of that review?
How did state arms manufacturer Denel manage to weave around the Public Finance Management Act in concluding a deal to partner with the Guptaassociated VR Lazer?
How will MPs manage to keep seeing no evil at the NPA and the Hawks when that is all the rest of the country is talking about?
Will the president answer any of the questions posed to him when he comes to Parliament to practise his quarterly charade of accountability?
It will be fascinating to watch but one thing is certain: what is left of Parliament’s reputation will be ground into the dust in the process.