DA's MOTION ON PRESIDENT RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENT
29 July 2014
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip has noted an intention by the DA to propose a motion in the National Assembly on the re-establishment of the Ad-hoc committee to deal with the Public Protector's report and the President's pending response. In terms of the Rules of the National Assembly, a motion of that nature will not be immediately attended to by the House as it only serves as a notice for future consideration.
We reaffirm our commitment to support any parliamentary mechanism the National Assembly may establish to process the response of the President as and when it is submitted to Parliament. We appreciate that the President has kept Parliament regularly updated on the progress of his work on the response and has committed to submit his comprehensive response as soon as possible. We have no reason to doubt this commitment.
Parliament will derive no benefit from a rushed or incomprehensive response as a result of the institution unnecessarily hastening the President's work on the response. Any undue pressure exerted on the President in this regard will only serve to undermine the qualitative process with which Parliament ought to deal with the issue.
The DA's motion and its threatened court action is therefore nothing but cheap political posturing.