COMMITTEE FOR SECTION 194 ENQUIRY RESOLVES TO GIVE CHAIRPERSON POWERS TO SUMMON WITNESSES
10 June 2022
Parliament, Friday, 10 June 2022 – The Committee for Section 194 Enquiry into the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s, fitness to hold office today resolved to grant the committee Chairperson the authorisation to summons witnesses to assist the committee in its task.
In terms of Section 14 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, the committee can grant powers to the Chairperson to summons any person recommended by evidence leaders or identified by the committee in the course of gathering evidence. Such a witness must then appear before the committee and/or produce documents where the presence of such a witness or the furnishing of such documents is material to the assessment of the motion. The committee was established by the National Assembly (NA) on 16 March 2021 to conduct a constitutional inquiry into Adv Mkhwebane fitness to hold office.
Committee Chairperson Mr Qubudile Dyantyi said the above resolution will apply where such a person is invited to provide oral evidence before the committee and/or produce documents requested and/or to provide a sworn written statement relating to the subject matter of the enquiry in anticipation of giving oral evidence and does not voluntarily agree to appear or produce documents as requested. The committee agreed that summoning would be the last resort, as assistance would first be sought voluntarily.
The committee today also received updates on the committee’s work thus far and a brief update on litigation against the committee and Parliament, as well as other recent developments regarding the Public Protector. The committee noted the Western Cape High Court’s dismissal today of the Public Protector’s application for urgent interim relief, which sought to interdict the Speaker of the NA, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and the committee from taking any further steps in the enquiry process into her removal. The Public Protector simultaneously sought to interdict the President from suspending her.
The committee further noted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s suspension from office yesterday of Adv Mkhwebane. “These matters, especially the latter one, does not have any direct bearing on the work or mandate of the committee. It is the President’s prerogative. The committee agreed that we will not be distracted from our work by matters outside of our mandate,” Mr Dyantyi said.
The committee heard today that on the closing date for the public to place evidence before the committee to assist it in assessing the motion, the committee had received 24 written responses. The evidence leaders together with the legal team are assessing the content to determine if any submissions deal materially with the matters raised in the motion and whether it is necessary to call such persons to furnish further evidence or give oral testimony. Furthermore, the committee is in receipt of a referral from the Speaker of a Protected Disclosure made in December 2019 by a former employee in the Office of the Public Protector, which will be added.
Mr Dyantyi called on all committee members to act in an impartial manner and to be cautious of public utterances that could impact negatively on this process. “This process is a twin task. We made it clear that people can provide evidence to either exonerate the Public Protector or evidence that can add to the motion that she is unfit to hold office. It is an exercise in accountability to look into the Public Protector’s fitness to hold office. We will work only with the evidence before us.”
Statement issued by Qubudile Dyantyi, Chairperson of the Committee for Section 194 Enquiry, 10 June 2022
