Nkandla task team report must be dealt with in an open committee

In his letter to Parliament, Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, has requested that the Nkandla report be dealt with in an "appropriate structure" which will show regard to the "sensitive nature of the information in the report". This sounds very much like a request for the report to be handled behind closed doors.

Yesterday, the Speaker of the National Assembly announced that Minister Nxesi will table the report into the expenditure of Nkandla in the National Assembly. This comes after repeated calls by the DA to have this document made public and for the Nkandla scandal to be debated in Parliament.

The DA insists that this report must be dealt with in an open committee so that all the details regarding this scandal are made public. Anything less will continue to shroud this report in secrecy and prevent real action being taken against those implicated in it.

The DA will write to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, to request an undertaking that this committee is open to the public. 

This is in line with section 57 (1) of the Constitution which states that the National Assembly may make rules and orders concerning its business, with due regard to representative and participatory democracy, accountability, transparency and public involvement. It further states in section 59 (2) that the National Assembly may not exclude the public, including the media, from a sitting of a committee unless it is reasonable and justifiable to do so in an open and democratic society.

The DA will furthermore push for the following:

• Minister Nxesi to table the full unexpurgated report with no omissions or deletions;
• that the full report will be debated in the National Assembly after it has been scrutinised by the committee; and
• that there is an undertaking by the Minister that action will be taken against all those who are implicated in any wrongdoing from the top down.

So long as the spending of R206 million on President Zuma's private residence in Nkandla is concealed under the dark cloud of secrecy, Nkandla will forever remain a symbol of government corruption under the presidency of Mr Jacob Zuma.

The DA will do everything possible to ensure that this report will be made public and that that there will be consequences for any wrongdoing uncovered.

Statement issued by Anchen Dreyer MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works, March 14 2013

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