National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has advised Section 194 Inquiry Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi to seek legal opinion on possible conflict of interest by DA MP Kevin Mileham’s participation in the proceedings.
The participation of Mileham in the impeachment inquiry into suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold offices is under scrutiny after EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu wrote to Mapisa-Nqakula and asked her to intervene.
It emerged that Mileham, one of the committee members, is also the husband of DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone. Mazzone is a complainant in the matter after she tabled a motion for Mkhwebane’s removal from office in December 2019.
According to parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, Shivambu also requested that Dyantyi be removed as chair of the committee for allegedly abusing his power.
Mothapo said on Wednesday: “The Speaker’s decision follows a letter by the EFF chief whip, Mr Floyd Shivambu, in which he requested the Speaker’s intervention on two matters:
- a possible conflict of interest by a member of the Section 194 Inquiry Committee,
- And the removal of Mr QR Dyantyi as chairperson of the Section 194 inquiry on allegations of abuse of power and unreasonable treatment of Ms Mantoa Maotwe by the chairperson.
“The Speaker wrote to the chairperson to ensure that the committee requests the parliamentary legal services to provide a legal opinion on the possible conflict of interest by the involvement of Mr KJ Mileham in the proceedings of the committee as envisaged in Rule 165 or any applicable law.
“On the matter requesting the removal of the chairperson, the Speaker informed Mr Shivambu that she is not authorised to remove a chairperson as the committee elects its chairperson. The Speaker understood the intervention by the chairperson in Ms Maotwe’s matter to be an effort to ensure the meeting was not diverted from the task at the time.”
Mothapo said Mapisa-Nqakula has also counselled the committee to ensure that the inquiry is carried out efficiently and honestly.
“The Speaker urged the Section 194 Inquiry Committee members to play their part to ensure that the committee carries out its responsibility efficiently as its task and the integrity of its proceedings are very important,” said Mothapo.
The inquiry is currently in recess to allow Mkhwebane and her legal team to prepare for a court hearing. Dyantyi said it would resume in a week’s time, however, the committee would continue to deliberate over the findings thus far.
On Tuesday, Mkhwebane’s lawyer, advocate Dali Mpofu questioned the credibility of the first subpoenaed witness, Tebogo Kekana, a former senior investigator in the office of the public protector.
Mpofu asserted that Kekana is a dishonest witness whose testimony cannot be trusted. He argued that Mkhwebane’s instruction on the Reserve Bank report was “quality assured at all stages”.
This after Kekana revealed to the committee on Monday that Mkhwebane had fiddled with the authenticity of the report by asking him to omit crucial information.
During the hearing, Mkhwebane denied that she had an investigator on the Vrede Dairy Farm report removed on suspicion that they were a DA member. She also denied that she instructed Kekana to not rely on the “so-called Gupta leaks”.
Mpofu said that Mkhwebane was actually concerned about the leaks’ authenticity.
However, Kekana maintained that his [then] supervisor reported that Mkhwebane had instructed them not to use the leaks. He also alleged that Mkhwebane gave an instruction to omit a couple of names from the Vrede Dairy Farm report.
On Tuesday, Mpofu accused Kekana of retaliating against Mkhwebane for his removal from office.
According to Mpofu, Kekana is retaliating against Mkhwebane because he was fired for being “dishonest”. He said the former investigator gave false evidence on Monday when he said Mkhwebane’s directive to amend the constitutional mandate of the SARB (South African Reserve Bank) came from the State Security Agency.
Mpofu also accused Kekana of gossiping about Mkhwebane, stating that he is the “opposite of a whistleblower” because he “spoke too much to lawyers”.
This is a developing story…
Read more: Mpofu accuses first witness Kekana of retaliation for his dismissal
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
