KOHLER-BARNARD's LIAISON WITH THE POST WRITER

29 August 2013

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip will further urge the parliamentary ethics committee to also look into the conduct of DA Member of Parliament, Dianne Kohler-Barnard, following her liaison with the writer of The Post article implicating her in an alleged misconduct during the ethics committee hearings.

The ethics committee is currently processing a complaint lodged on 21 August by the ANC Chief Whip on Kohler-Barnard's alleged leaking of confidential information pertaining to the hearings on the former minister of communications. As an ethics committee member, Kohler-Barnard is bound by oath of confidentiality not to disclose information on the confidential work of the committee.

DA deputy chief whip yesterday released a statement with an attachment showing that Kohler-Barnard appealed to The Post writer to retract the claim she made in her article implicating her in an alleged violation of the ethics code. As a member of the ethics committee, Kohler-Barnard ought to know that once a complaint against her is lodged, she may not communicate with potential witnesses or interfere with committee investigation. By engaging in self-investigation, interfering with a potential witness and threatening ANC Chief Whip with legal action, Kohler-Barnard is displaying signs of desperation typical in people who are not innocent.

We urge Kohler-Barnard to respect and subject herself to the ethics committee process and abstain from acts of intimidation and interfering with potential witnesses. The ethics committee should, as part of its work on our complaint, also investigate this alleged unethical conduct of liaising with potential witnesses.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, August 29 2013

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