Parliament has developed a detailed plan to get to the bottom of allegations that the State Security Agency (SSA) was used as a vehicle to channel money from the state to fund presidential campaigns of individual ANC leaders in 2017.
Parliament’s finance watchdog Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has instructed its research and content adviser to work with parliament’s research unit to consider reports of the Zondo Commission into state capture relating to issues of financial misconduct at the SSA. In a planning proposal, the committee said a request should be sent to the commission to provide Scopa with evidence related to SSA.
It comes after ANC MP Mervyn Dirks wrote to Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa, saying President Cyril Ramaphosa’s admission that state funds were used for ANC campaigns, and his failure to disclose the information before the Zondo Commission would make the final report of the commission questionable.
Dirks wanted Ramaphosa to be hauled before the committee to explain his comments. But the president managed to side-step Dirk’s plan, and told the committee in a written reply to questions, that his comments on SSA were informed by information that was already in the public domain, including testimonies at the commission.
This month, Scopa will invite the Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke to a briefing on the challenges of dealing with the SSA’s books, which include the agency’s argument that its work is of a secret nature. The committee would also invite the Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee of Intelligence (JSCI) to attend the meeting with Maluleke.
The committee will also invite the director-general of SSA, Thembisile Majola, to brief it on internal controls to prevent the misuse of financial and other resources, management of financial records and matters relating to the confidentiality of records, and risk assessment and prevention procedures, among others.
A joint meeting with the JSCI is also in the pipeline next month to discuss challenges related to parliament’s oversight role over SSA. In June, the committee will resolve whether witnesses should be called to respond to oral questions.
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.
