Members of parliament serving on the parliamentary ad hoc committee probing allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi have been accused of playing to the gallery to score cheap political points instead of doing a serious job.
During the hearings by the committee last week, some members even tried to lead the witness to blame the ANC for what happened by asking leading questions that pointed to the ANC as a potential culprit.
Others had to be reminded by the committee chair, Soviet Lekganyane, about wasting their allocated time by making irrelevant political statements instead of asking questions.
Activists and Citizens Forum national spokesperson Dennis Bloem said instead of doing their oversight job and investigation in line with the committee’s mandate, the MPs were finger-pointing and playing to the media gallery.
He described their work as a “disgusting” and “under-par” performance.
Bloem slams MPs’ “under-par” performance
Bloem, a former ANC MP and ex-chair of the portfolio committee on correctional services, said the forum was disappointed at the manner in which the committee members conducted themselves last week.
Each MP was given 30 minutes to question Mkhwanazi and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
Instead of using the time properly, the politicians asked irrelevant questions that had nothing to do with the main issue.
On Monday, the committee heard testimony from Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, deputy national police commissioner for crime detection.
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According to Bloem, the MPs failed to stick to the matters on the table as they did not follow the committee’s mandate to investigate serious allegations made by Mkhwanazi about the alleged infiltration of the criminal justice system by a criminal syndicate, that police minister Senzo Mchunu was part of a criminal syndicate and that the minister interfered with police criminal investigations.
“According to our understanding, that is the subject of investigation. To our disappointment, instead of asking relevant and pointed questions in line with the subject, these MPs, across the board, are busy with party political finger-pointing, wanting to score cheap political points,” Bloem said.
Doubts over the final report
“It is very clear to us that these MPs don’t have a clue about their mandate.
“We are certain that Masemola and Mkhwanazi are very disappointed with the quality of the MPs serving on this ad hoc committee. We are certain they expected probing questions,” Bloem said.
He doubted whether the committee would produce a quality report.
“The committee has just begun with only two witnesses and such a disgusting performance. We don’t know what will happen going forward.
“If things stay the same, we really don’t know what kind of report this committee will produce.
“We are calling upon members of parliament to take their work seriously. They must know that they are representing millions of voiceless people and that people are depending on them.”
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