Minister Nxesi must clarify how Nkandlagate report was "classified" within 36 hours
According to the legal opinion received from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, which the DA now has in its possession, the Public Works Task Team Report into the security upgrades at President Zuma's private home in Nkandla, was "classified". It is on this basis that the legal opinion, advising the Speaker to refer the report to a closed committee, was drafted by the State Law Advisor.
However, after a thorough analysis, it remains unclear how the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, could have "classified" this report in the first instance. In fact, it is the DA's position that he is not empowered to do so at all.
The National Key Point Act does not at any point enable the Minister to classify a document. Furthermore, the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS) policy has no basis in law, and remains a cabinet policy. The Minister cannot claim that he has made use of this document to legally classify the report, nor can the report be referred to the JSCI on the basis of this policy.
This brings into question whether Minister Nxesi deliberately set out to hide the information contained in the report at the very outset, and whether he was wrong in requesting that the report be handled behind closed-doors.
I will call on the Minister to clarify within the next 36 hours the basis in law, upon which he has "classified" this document; what procedures he followed to do so, and why.