DA to push for reversal of election of VBS Mayor as Communications Committee Chair in clandestine meeting

Today a former VBS Mayor, Boyce Maneli was elected Chairperson of the Communications and Digital Technologies Portfolio in an urgent meeting I was not informed was taking place.

The procedure followed for meetings in the committee is an emailed “Notice of Meeting,” followed by two SMSes. If it is an urgent meeting as today’s was, in addition to this, members are phoned to confirm attendance.

I was not informed of the meeting which started at 14h00 in any manner, and only saw it was to be held when I happened to see a document to be discussed at the meeting emailed at 13h00 today and I saw at 13h47. If it was not for this document I would not have known that the meeting was taking place.

I have been informed by other members that they were not only sent messages but also called twice to confirm attendance. I was not.

Given that I had not been informed of the meeting taking place, I requested that the meeting be postponed. It was not and Maneli’s election went ahead.

This is a seeming attempt to block the DA from the meeting in order to not bring attention to another compromised ANC MP being elected as a Chairperson of a Committee, joining Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Tina Joemat-Petterson, Supra Mahumapelo and others.

This poor attempt at hiding the ANC’s dirty laundry will not go without action. The DA will write to Parliament’s Chair of Chairs Cedric Frolick requesting that Maneli’s election be reversed.

When Maneli was West Rand District Municipality Mayor, R77 million was illegally invested with VBS. As a result, the municipality was forced to stop multiple projects such as the Construction of Roads and Maintenance Project and the Droogehheuwel Bulk Water Supply Programme. The municipality is in such dire financial straits that in June this year it did not have money to pay its staff and councillors.

Maneli was “exonerated” of the illegal investment in VBS by the ANC’s West Rand region of Johannesburg in their own “investigation.” Despite repeated requests from the DA that the “report” has not been made public.

Parliament has an important role to play in our democracy, and is not the dumping ground for crooked comrades. Even if Maneli’s election is unlikely to be reversed given the ANC’s use of its majority, ignoring other views, on principle all members must be allowed the opportunity to voice objections and this be officially recorded.

Statement issued by Phumzile Van Damme MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, 21 August 2019