President has until Thursday to respond to Scopa
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa faces the task of meeting the Standing Committee on Public Accounts deadline as it waits for him to give responses by Thursday in connection with remarks he made at an ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting that discussed the abuse of public funds during election campaigns.
Scopa had given Ramaphosa eight questions to answer by Thursday, and the deadline coincides with his delivery of the State of the Nation Address in Cape Town.
Ramaphosa’s acting spokesperson, Tyrone Seale, said the president was willing to co-operate with Scopa.
“This matter is receiving attention, and the president will engage timeously with Scopa,” said Seale.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa also confirmed yesterday that the deadline for Ramaphosa to respond to their questions was Thursday.
He said the committee would decide, after it had received the responses, when it was going to meet to discuss the matter.
The involvement of Scopa came after suspended ANC MP Mervyn Dirks wrote to the committee last December asking it to call Ramaphosa to provide answers regarding his remarks made to the NEC.
The ANC has suspended Dirks and he is due to appear before a disciplinary committee for his conduct.
He was also removed from Scopa and replaced by Bheki Hadebe as the ANC whip in the committee.
During Scopa’s meeting last month, the committee agreed to write to Ramaphosa to provide answers regarding his remarks about the misuse of public funds during the party’s leadership battle in Nasrec in 2017.
In the list of questions sent to Ramaphosa, the committee wants to know the context in which he made the comments.
Scopa wants Ramaphosa to furnish it with any information he may have about the misuse of public funds.
The committee also wants to know if there are other officials or party members who have information on this issue.
Hlengwa said at the last meeting that, based on the president’s responses, they would decide whether to call him to appear before the committee.
ANC members in Scopa blocked moves to summon Ramaphosa when the committee discussed the issue last month.
They said Scopa had to first ask a person to respond to any allegation or claim made by another member before they could invoke the rule to summon them.
ANC MPS said Ramaphosa had not refused to answer questions and should be afforded an opportunity, as in the past, to respond in writing first.
Dirks had made a presentation during the Scopa meeting held before the committee decided to write to Ramaphosa to ask him to respond to the allegations.