National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has advised United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa to take his request, for a retired judge to look into his complaint that the evidence submitted by the party to the Zondo Commission was ignored, to court.
The UDM leader wrote to Mapisa-Nqakula following reports that the explosive affidavit was ignored by the commission implicating several prominent individuals and politicians in corruption.
‘Evidence is missing’
In the letter, Holomisa, Member of Parliament, said in Independence Week The report contains serious allegations that need further investigation.
Also read: Holomisa asks Parly to consider appointing retired judge to investigate evidence missed by Zondo Commissionisa
He said that the UDM also submitted its own evidence of “the real mastermind behind state capture” to the commission, headed by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, in a 56-page correspondence dated September 23, 2020.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo, on Sunday, said the speaker of the National Assembly advised Holomisa to use the judicial process to challenge what he believed to be missing evidence from the judicial commission.
The UDM leader has written to Mapisa-Nqakula asking him to appoint a retired judge to assess the facts of the evidence submitted to the state arrest commission, claiming it never made a final report or was never considered.
The Speaker has no such power
In his answer, the speaker explained that he did not have the authority to appoint the commission of inquiry, because that is the responsibility of the president, as set out in the Constitution.
“Furthermore, the Speaker does not have the authority to appoint a retired judge to interrogate the report of the State Prison Commission. Section 84(1)(f) of the Constitution gives the President of the Republic the power to appoint a Commission of Inquiry. who made it,” Mothapo said in a statement.
He said Mapisa-Nqakula further referred Holomisa to discussions in the National Assembly’s Rules Committee on how Parliament would process the State Detention Report.
RELATED: State Capture: Parliament’s response plan to Zondo The Commission will discuss
The process agreed upon in the rules committee, Mothapo said, did not include challenging the veracity or the report of the commission.
He said the speaker indicated that the findings and recommendations of the commission should be challenged in court through judicial process.
“[Mapisa-Nqakula] concluded by encouraging all Members of Parliament and the structures of Parliament to remain vigilant in the exercise of Parliament’s constitutional oversight obligations. He expressed his hope that the institutional process would also help to address the issues that Holomisa mentioned,” Mothapo added.
Fight the fire
Zondo and the commission are now fighting former State Security Agency (SSA) director-general Arthur Fraser’s review of the final report.
The commission attacked Fraser and recommended, among other things, that the criminal case be reopened regarding the controversial Principal Agent Network (PAN) program.
He filed papers in the high court in Pretoria in December, asking that the commission’s report be reviewed and set aside or that all findings and recommendations related to it be thrown out.
In August, News24 revealed that Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe had gone to court to challenge the commission’s findings against him.
He is reportedly taking legal action against Zondo to prove that the commission acted beyond its mandate when it recommended that he be investigated for corruption because Bosasa had installed security cameras in three of his houses.
NOW Read: Zondo-Commission-report-an-important-omission