DA to table motion of censure against ANC MP Annelize van Wyk

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police and ANC MP, Annelize van Wyk, failed to disclose critical information with respect to the feedback received on the job-killing Private Security Industry Regulation Act (PSIRA) Amendment Bill.

I will be tabling a motion of censure against Ms Van Wyk at the first available opportunity.

The DA has been informed that letters from international embassies critiquing the bill and its violation of South African commitments under the World Trade Organisation, including Article XVI and XVII of the General Agreement on Trade Services (GATS), were submitted to Parliament but never tabled before the committee. 

I have a copy of one such letter in my possession, addressed to ANC Chief Whip, Stone Sizani, with Ms Van Wyk copied in. 

As a result of this information being withheld by Ms Van Wyk, committee members were not supplied with crucial information relating to investor confidence and trade implications prior to voting.

Given this breach of due process, the DA will table a motion of censure against Ms Van Wyk. We will demand that the National Assembly is provided with an explanation and an apology without delay.

I will also communicate with all other members of the portfolio committee of police - in that this Bill must now proceed to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) - and ensure that members of that House are made aware of the Chairperson's actions in deliberately hiding information away from the  members of the National Assembly Police Portfolio Committee. It is our belief that this Bill should be removed from the Parliamentary process as a result of her misguided actions.   

A Committee Chairperson hiding key information from a Portfolio Committee is equally inexplicable and inexcusable.

Indeed, through these actions President Zuma's ANC has yet again demonstrated it is neither serious about creating jobs, or fighting crime.

The DA has the plans and the policies to turn this around after the 7th of May. By working together for change, we can create jobs and fight crime, especially in poor communities.

Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard, Shadow Minister of Police, March 2 2014

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