Parliament strangling #StateCapture probes - DA

File picture: Supplied

File picture: Supplied

Published Jul 27, 2017

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Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance (DA) expressed concern that Parliament may be placing a stranglehold on committees tasked with probing state capture by not providing them with the needed resources.

On Tuesday, the Public Enterprises Committee held a meeting to establish the groundwork of its investigation into state capture at Eskom. 

It was made clear that a qualified evidence leader would be needed to assist the committee with this vital enquiry.

"Limiting the resources of these committees aligns directly with the agenda of the ANC – make it look like action is being taken but prevent that action from ever actually getting to the heart of the problem. The sudden about turn of the ANC in Parliament should after all be recognised for what it is – an exercise in damage control rather than a real attempt at rooting out corruption," said DA in a statement.

"If Parliament cannot source the needed legal services from inside Parliament then it needs to take on an advocate from outside of Parliament to do the job."

The DA stated that the committee will need the expertise of an advocate who is experienced in litigation as well as assistance from experts in engineering.

"Parliament has a Constitutional duty to investigate the damning state capture evidence which continues to be exposed through the leaked emails, alongside the Public Protector’s report into state capture."

Therefore Parliamentary committees need to be properly resourced to handle such in depth investigations, reaffirmed the opposition party.

"We will not allow these committee enquiries to become a farce to assist an ANC driven agenda or to be strangled by a lack of resources."

IOL

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