Parliament says it is implementing Zondo report

Members of Parliament during a session. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)

Members of Parliament during a session. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)

Published May 17, 2022

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Parliament has insisted it was working on implementing the recommendations of the state capture reports after they were released by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

The official opposition, the DA, had accused Parliament of sitting on the legal opinion it obtained on the actions to be taken against the implicated members.

The national legislature said on Monday that it was working on the various reports that had been released.

The rules committee would begin working on it and the ethics committee would probe MPs who had been implicated.

The legal opinion has recommended action against House chairperson Cedric Frolick and National Council of Provinces delegate Winnie Ngwenya.

“The Speaker, as soon as possible, refer Part 3 of the Report to the Ethics Committee to consider the alleged breach of the Ethics Code by Ms. Winnie Ngwenya, MP and Mr. Cedrick Frolick, MP. This referral is not dependent on the release of the final portion of the Report,” read the legal opinion.

This week, the DA had said Parliament had not acted on the report that was received in March.

The matter has been regularly discussed in the programming committee.

Parliament said on Monday evening that the reports would be processed through various structures of the institution.

“The rules committee will, at an opportune time, consider how best to process the reports and implementation in their entirety,” said Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.

He said President Cyril Ramaphosa had submitted a report dealing with former and serving members of Parliament.

He said the ethics committee would deal with the implicated MPs who were serving in the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces.

“Accordingly, the joint committee on ethics and members’ interest has been requested to investigate possible contraventions of the code of ethical conduct and disclosure of members’ interests for assembly and Parliament council members.

“This applies only to current members who were serving in Parliament when any alleged transgressions took place. The president has committed to submit the rest of the reports along with the implementation plan on or before 31 August 2022,” said Mothapo.

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Political Bureau