Tensions as Scopa toughens up
ANC MPs unhappy that re-energised finance watchdog is treading on their turf
● Parliamentary committees are embroiled in a turf war on how to oversee troubled state-owned enterprises (SOEs), with some ANC MPs complaining to the legislature’s bosses about the conduct of public finance watchdog Scopa.
The Sunday Times this week learnt that ANC MPs serving on the portfolio committee on public enterprises spearheaded a complaint to Cedric Frolick, parliament’s house chair responsible for committees, registering their unhappiness about the Standing Committee on Public Account’s tough stance towards SOEs such as South African Airways (SAA) and Eskom.
Scopa is led by opposition MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa of the IFP, and the committee has recently posed tough questions to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and the business rescue practitioners of SAA.
But this does not sit well with ANC MPs on the public enterprises committee, who said they feel Scopa is encroaching on their terrain and even raising questions that they have long settled, including the non-submission of financial statements by SAA.
In terms of parliamentary arrangements, Scopa is responsible for scrutinising the spending of public funds, and portfolio committees focus on policy implementation.
ANC MP Khaya Magaxa, who is the chair of the public enterprises committee, confirmed the territorial battle with Scopa.
Scopa is known for being tough on reckless spending by government departments and SOEs. Members of other portfolio committees have privately expressed the view that the finance body casts them in a bad light with its sharp line of questioning. Magaxa said “comrades, generally in ANC circles” were unhappy with Scopa.
“There are MPs that are normally worried when Scopa is raising sharply an issue that we have not yet started raising in public,” said Magaxa.
He revealed that when Scopa demanded that SAA present its financial statements to parliament, a legal requirement, it became an issue with members of the ANC.
He said ANC MPs had accepted the nonsubmission of SAA’s financial statements, and were stunned when Scopa pressed the SOE on the matter.
“We sort of got an understanding of what is the problem, but Scopa continued to pursue that issue,” he said.
“We understood the environment and the context in which the situation forced them [SAA] to commit that crime. We didn’t want SAA to be liquidated, while we do want them to account. We didn’t want to open another can of worms that would put the entity in more jeopardy. But Scopa was pushing them to submit.”
Magaxa said he is not opposed to the ANC tradition of appointing opposition MPs to chair Scopa, but they are prone to use their oversight roles to exploit the failures of state institutions to attack the governing party.
Frolick, known in parliament as “the chair of chairs”, said he had to intervene in the cold war between Hlengwa and ANC MPs from the public enterprises and other portfolio committees.
“I had to bring in the two chairpersons [Hlengwa and Magaxa] and say, ‘Listen here, co-operate, work with one another because we have one intention and one outcome only’,” said Frolick.
“There was a lot of animosity even among ANC members on why Scopa was moving so fast on that one [SAA].
“But it was correct. They legitimately did the correct thing. They exercised their duty and wanted to know what is happening at SAA and SA Express where staff were not being paid,” said Frolick.
He said Scopa has changed how it conducts oversight on public finances and no longer waits until the tabling of annual financial statements before raising questions.
He said the finance watchdog is now free to call in people whenever it sees evidence of financial mismanagement or urgent, serious matters to address.
“How Scopa used to operate has changed. Given the challenges we face, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, their role has changed completely,” he said.
Hlengwa said Scopa wants to deal with issues in real time rather than after the fact.
He conceded that this means its work will overlap with the affairs of portfolio committees, but said this was within the rules and mandate of parliament.
“I don’t consider it to be a source of tension, I consider it to be a paradigm shift in operations for parliament,” he said.
“Wherever there may be perceived tension, it’s well within the process of work and we are certainly not thinking we are better than any other committee. We are part of the parliamentary process and part of the value chain of oversight.”
Hlengwa said at no point did he or any member of Scopa try to politicise their oversight duties.
I had to bring in the two chairs and say, ‘Co-operate’