Parliament, Cape Town - Allowing a debate on state spending on President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home would be like putting the cart before the horse, ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga said on Wednesday.
“This is because the matter is currently under formal investigation and the findings have not (yet) been made,” he said in a statement.
“The investigative institutions such as the Office of the Public Protector, which is accountable to Parliament, must be afforded space to do their work without undue political influence from Parliament.”
Motshekga was defending a decision by the ANC to reject a Democratic Alliance motion to debate Nkandla during a National Assembly sitting next week.
DA leader Lindiwe Mazibuko accused the ANC of “doing everything possible to protect President Jacob Zuma from scrutiny on this matter”.
She vowed to ask National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu to intervene at a meeting of the Assembly programming committee on Thursday.
Motshekga said since the DA was among those who asked the Public Protector to investigate the Nkandla spend, it should be patient and wait for the facts before debating the matter. - Sapa