Backlash over Zuma job interference claim
THE JOINT standing committee on intelligence (JSCI) has denied reports that President Jacob Zuma tried to influence it to muscle through the appointment of ex-ANC MP Cecil Burgess as the new head of intelligence oversight.
The committee said yesterday it was not a secret that Burgess had been recommended by it to be inspector-general of intelligence.
It is to investigate DA chief whip John Steenhuisen for leaking information on the discussions with Zuma.
The ANC had required a two-thirds majority to appoint Burgess.
His appointment fell through in Parliament last year after it failed to get the required two-thirds majority. This was after opposition parties voted against the ANC.
The ANC needs 18 votes from opposition parties in Parliament to secure the twothirds majority.
Without naming Steenhuisen, who was quoted in a weekend newspaper, the committee said its meetings and discussions were confidential.
The ANC chief whip’s office in Parliament also urged the committee to take action against Steenhuisen.
But Steenhuisen said he would not allow the ANC to bulldoze the opposition to appoint Burgess.
The position has been vacant for almost a year since former head of intelligence oversight Faith Radebe’s term of office expired early last year.
Radebe is now South Africa’s ambassador to Sweden.
ANC chief whip Stone Sizani’s spokesman Moloto Mothapo said an appropriate committee of Parliament must probe Steenhuisen for his conduct in allegedly leaking confidential information.
He added that Steenhuisen had violated the committee’s trust.
“It’s a very dangerous conduct that violates national security just to score cheap political points,” he said.
The JSCI said no one was allowed to leak confidential information on its business.
It added it was malicious to suggest Zuma had tried to influence it to appoint Burgess, as the decision had already been taken.
It said no one was allowed to give out information on its meetings. “This matter of a possible breach of confidentiality will, therefore, be tabled before the JSCI at its earliest convenience for a decision and consideration,” the committee said.
Steenhuisen said the DA would not allow the ANC or anyone else to bulldoze the process of appointing the inspector-general.
He said the intelligence committee could investigate whatever it wanted to investigate. “I am not going to stand by and allow an undue process to appoint an unholy person like Burgess,” he said.
The DA chief whip said it looked like the ANC wanted to give Burgess the top job at all costs. “We have been sitting for seven months with that position unfilled because the ANC wants to appoint Burgess,” he said.
The ethics committee is the body that would investigate Steenhuisen or any MP who leaked any information.
The JSCI is allowed by the law to ask any member of the cabinet and the president to appear before it.