National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has refused to safe-keep the state capture report by outgoing Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and will send it back to Pretoria.
Mbete said last night that according to the rules, she has to table all documents in the house with members but could not do so with this report, which the North Gauteng High Court said should not be made public pending the court applications by President Jacob Zuma Cooperative Governance Minister Des Van Rooyen.
Madonsela announced earlier in the day that she had sent the report to the Speaker for safekeeping as it was the appropriate fuctionary to safekeep the report before her successor assumes office.
But Mbete has rejected this.
“The Speaker has an obligation in terms of the Rules of the Assembly to table all documents received for the information of members, in order to ensure that the business of the Assembly is conducted in an open and transparent manner.
“This report however cannot be handled in the same manner. The report will accordingly be returned to the Office of the Public Protector,” she said.
Political Bureau