Parliament - The National Assembly on Wednesday let a vote on the nomination of ANC MP Cecil Burgess as the next inspector general of intelligence stand over because there were too many empty seats in the House to secure the required two-thirds majority to approve it.
The Democratic Alliance claimed this was confirmation that the African National Congress could not unite its ranks behind the candidate widely considered an intelligence hawk, but ANC chief whip Stone Sizani declined to comment on this and described the delay as a question of lacking a quorum.
“You need a majority of 267 in support in the National Assembly on this question and the ANC has only 249 MPs, with so many acrimonious meetings in committees it was clear that we were simply not going to have the numbers,” he told ANA.
“We would have needed the votes of 18 members from opposition parties.”
Sizani noted that 235 ANC MPs were present to vote in favour of money bills regarding Eskom, but said it would be academic and amount to speculation to comment on the DA’s assertion that the party was conflicted about backing Burgess to replace Faith Radebe as the country’s official intelligence watchdog.
“We did not pull it on the basis of support for an individual,” he said.
However DA MP David Maynier said the postponement of the vote confirmed deep-seated reservations about Burgess’s suitability for a job that should protect the country from abuses by its intelligence community.
“The inspector general of intelligence literally stands between the rule of law and the rogue spooks lurking in crime intelligence, defence intelligence and the State Security Agency,” Maynier said.
“That is why the inspector-general of Intelligence is required to be impartial and independent and to perform his functions without fear or favour.
“It’s extraordinary therefore that Cecil Burgess was nominated for the position … because he has a proven track record of not being impartial, of not being independent, and of performing his duties with favour, and indeed fervour, for the ruling party and President Jacob Zuma.”
He added that Sizani would have to “go back to the drawing board and either try and muster the necessary support for Cecil Burgess or hopefully consider the nomination of a more suitable candidate”.
Burgess chaired the ad hoc committee that steered the contentious Protection of State Information Bill through Parliament and has served as chairman of the legislature’s joint standing committee on intelligence.
Parliament will enter a constituency period next week, all but precluding that the matter will be settled soon.
ANA