By: Siyabonga Sithole
On Wednesday, leader of the United Democratic Movement(UDM), General Bantu Holomisa met with leaders of other opposition parties and the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to discuss outstanding issues of national importance involving the country' security as well as recommendations stemming from the Zondo commission on state capture and the Mpati commissions.
The meeting follows the recent letter Holomisa had written to the Speaker and President Ramaphosa to allow members of the opposition parties represented in parliament an opportunity to discuss these issues. In an open letter, the leader of UDM also urged the President Ramaphosa to put the country first and not the ANC as the governing party and implement findings and recommendations contained in the two commissions which have placed key leaders of the ANC at the centre of state capture.
The meeting was attended by the representatives from Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Congress of the People (COPE), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Al Jama-Ah and UDM.
In a statement realised shortly after the meeting, Holomisa said he and the leaders had finally met with the speaker of parliament to discuss recommendations and findings of the state capture report and the Mpati commission to discuss how to ensure that these recommendations and findings are followed through and implemented. Chief among these are issues such as the secret ballot, the appointment of the secretary of Parliament, the Parliament’s oversight model and its return to normality.
Holomisa adds that the speaker has undertaken to contact national treasury and the public Investment Corporation to establish what progress has been made regarding the recommendation of the Mpati commission in terms of the legislative development to close identified gaps.
“ Since ad hic committees are typically the conduit for Parliament to process ad hoc matters, would be expected with the Zondo reports, the opposition leaders expressed concern at the composition of a future ad hoc committee(s) that would be dominated by the ANC as per the current representation model since the ANC has been fingered by the Zondo commission in state capture, it is problematic to have the ANC be the player and the referee in the same game,” Holomisa says in the statement.
On thus issue and many others, Holomisa said the speaker had agreed to consult on the matter and return to the parties on Tuesday and that parliament must obtain legal advice from a senior counsel who will interpret the role of the ruling party in such processes as the ruling party was the beneficiary of state capture.
Holomisa further stated that the speaker had agreed to also look into the matter of parliament’s oversight model.
“The speaker agreed that she is working around the click to look at an alternative that would lead to normality and that committees are already operating at their standard modus operandi. She confirmed that any portfolio committee had the right to summon a minister to appear before them. We believe that both delegations were satisfied with the outcome if our interactions thus far,” he said.
The meeting between opposition parties and the speaker also touched on secrecy of ballots during motions of no confidence as well as the appointment of Secretary of parliament, with Holomisa saying the speaker had once again agreed to provide more information on issues if secretary clearance and salary scale.