The Speaker must immediately table report on those who lied to the SABC Inquiry

6 June 2017

The DA will today write to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, urging her to promptly table a report from Parliament’s Legal Services Unit detailing any witnesses who gave contradictory or misleading evidence during the SABC Inquiry.

We have been reliably informed that the report was finalised on 5 June and that a copy has been handed to the Speaker's Office.

The report was one of the key recommendations of the SABC Inquiry Report and Legal Services were tasked with “identify[ing] the persons who misled the inquiry or provided false information or false testimony with the aim of criminal charges being laid.”

The Speaker is obliged to table this report before the House, via the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC), and should do so at the earliest convenience.

Individuals who gave evidence during the SABC Inquiry and who are suspected of having misled Parliament include former Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, and the former chairpersons of the SABC Board, Ellen Tshabalala, Dr Ben Ngubane, and Prof Mbulaheni Maguvhe.

For too long errand members of the Executive and persons mismanaging our state-owned enterprises have evaded accountability by failing to report to Parliament or, when finally forced to do so, obfuscating and lying. Those who have misled Parliament should, in the interest of accountability, be exposed and made to face the consequences of their actions.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 6 June 2017