Johannesburg - Parliament's rules dictate that it must establish a new ad-hoc committee to investigate the Nkandla report, former speaker Max Sisulu told Beeld.
“This is what parliamentary rules prescribe and it is not dependent on individuals' feelings,” he said in an interview published on Friday.
Sisulu said that when the fourth Parliament ended, it was said a committee would be formed in the next Parliament to investigate the public protector's report on the R246 million spent on President Jacob Zuma's private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
The rules stated the new Parliament had to do it because the previous committee's work was not complete, he said.
However, Sisulu said he could not dictate to his successor, Speaker Baleka Mbete.
The committee Sisulu established was disbanded shortly before the May 7 elections.
As speaker he simply followed Parliament's rules by establishing the committee - the question was never over whether it should be established or not, he said.
He has resigned from Parliament.
Asked whether the committee led to him not being re-elected speaker he said he had had his time. - Sapa