All 14 parties on the Section 194 Enquiry Committee will have proportional voting rights

The National Assembly (NA) Rules Committee agreed unanimously to accept the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ms Thandi Modise’s decision to expand the composition of the Section 194 Enquiry Committee to 36 members and to give all NA political parties proportional voting rights.

The committee will make enquiries to see if there are grounds for the removal from office of the Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The previous composition of the committee announced on 7 April stipulated 26 members from the 14 NA political parties. Of the 26 members, 11 were voting members and 15 were non-voting members.

The revised composition to be implemented immediately increases overall membership to 36 members. All 36 will have voting rights I line with their proportional representation and membership will be:

19 members – African National Congress

4 members – Democratic Alliance

2 members – Economic Freedom Fighters

1 member each – Inkatha Freedom Party, African Christian Democratic Party, National Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus, United Democratic Movement, GOOD, African Independent Congress, Congress of the People, Pan Africanist Congress, Al Jama-ah

The committee also resolved to allocate the African Transformation Movement a seat with voting rights, even though it formerly expressed its decision not to participate in the Section 194 committee’s proceedings.

The Rules Committee has referred the Speaker’s determination to the Subcommittee on the Review of Rules to be effected in the Rules of the Assembly.

The NA voted in favour of establishing the Section 194 Committee on 16 March. This decision was taken after adopting the report of an independent panel of experts, which recommended the establishment of the such a committee. In terms of the NA Rules, the Section 194 Committee has to conduct the enquiry, to establish whether the charges against the Public Protector are sustainable and to report to the NA for a decision.

The committee’s report must give findings, recommendations and reasons for their recommendations. Such a report must also be scheduled for consideration and debate in the NA with appropriate urgency.

The committee must finish its work within a reasonable time and must elect its chairperson at its first meeting.