Donen Commission: Six questions the DA will be putting to President Zuma

This coming Thursday I, along with the leaders of a several other parties in Parliament, will be meeting with President Zuma. One of the key issues the Democratic Alliance will be asking the President to address is the Donen Commission and the findings it makes in its report.

In this regard, I believe the following six issues need to be addressed by the President and I will make a point of raising them at our meeting:

1. Whether the government or the Presidency (or indeed the individual members of Cabinet implicated in the report) will be making a statement to clarify their position and refute, contest or confirm the findings in the Commission's report. We believe they owe the South African public an explanation.

2. Whether he has discussed the Report with the two members of Cabinet implicated in it - Deputy President Motlanthe and Human Settlements Minister Sexwale - or the Minerals and Energy Director-General, Sandile Nogxina; and what the outcomes of those discussions were?

3. Given that the integrity of the report was compromised by the fact that it was unable to issues subpoenas - and therefore unable to properly interrogate key role players - why was the report accepted in the first place?

4. What action is he, as President going to take on the report and the findings it contains? As President all three people implicated report directly to him and he is responsible for holding them to account. Further, presumably the report itself contains a series of recommendations, what are they?

5. In this regard, will the President make the report available; if not, why not?

6. Given all of these factors, whether the President will reconstitute a commission into South African company's role in the UN oil-for-food programme and, if not, what action will he take as President to ensure that this matter is properly dealt with and those found to be guilty or corruption are held to account?

We will also be submitting formal parliamentary questions to the President on all of these issues.

There is a particular context to the latest revelations concerning the Donen Commission: In the first place South Africa was one of the last countries to take action against companies within its border, implicated in wrongdoing by the United Nations. Other countries, like Australia for example, acted with ruthless efficiency to investigate the matter and hold those responsible to account.

Second, not only did we delay the investigations but, when a commission was set it up, it was not properly constituted and the investigation was compromised by technicalities and legal impediments.

Finally, once it was set up and finalised, the report itself has been kept under wraps for years and shrouded in secrecy and a distinct lack of transparency.

All of these developments say something about the ANC government's attitude to corruption and establishing best democratic practice. Significantly, they say much about former President Thabo Mbeki and constitute one of a number of dark clouds that will define his legacy. President Zuma has an opportunity to put clear blue water between his administration and President Mbeki's. How he acts in response to this issue will go a long way to determining how his public commitment to fighting corruption will translate into practical outcomes.

Statement issued by Athol Trollip, MP, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader, August 24 2009

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter