Cape Town - Former public protector Thuli Madonsela will be subpoenaed to appear before the parliamentary inquiry into the fitness of incumbent Busisiwe Mkhwebane to hold public office.
This will also apply to former deputy public protector Kevin Malunga, who served during terms of Madonsela and Mkhwebane.
However, the Section 194 Committee put its foot down on a request to subpoena President Cyril Ramaphosa and Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka.
This emerged on Wednesday when the committee considered requests for subpoenas from Mkhwebane’s legal team for five individuals, but agreed to only two.
The committee heard that Mkhwebane’s legal team wanted Madonsela, Gcaleka, DA MP Natasha Mazzone, Office of the Public protector investigator Bianca Mvuyana and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to be subpoenaed.
Madonsela had not responded to Mkhwebane’s legal team’s request to voluntarily appear before the inquiry while the four others declined.
Briefing the committee, parliamentary legal advisor Fatima Ebrahim said the inquiry’s directives have regard to the constitution and the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures Act that Mkhwebane may encounter difficulties in securing appearance of witnesses.
Ebrahim said there was no automatic guarantee that Mkhwebane would have all the witnesses subpoenaed.
“It is meant to facilitate appearance of witnesses for purposes of establishing veracity of the charges.
“Only evidence relevant to determine the veracity of the grounds of incompetence or misconduct in the motion is to be put before the committee,” she said.
She took the committee through each of the requests and gave advice.
Ebrahim also asked the committee to decide whether it would call Public Protector South Africa investigator Erika Cilliers, the initial investigator in the Vrede Dairy Farm probe, who had declined to appear when asked by the evidence leaders and Mkhwebane’s legal team.
GOOD party MP Brett Herron had previously raised her situation after no request for her appearance was made.
Ebrahim also raised the requests by Mkhwebane’s team to summon Ramaphosa as well as the recall of witnesses - former SARS officials Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg and former Public Protector official Besani Baloyi.
DA MP Annelie Lotriet said: “I would support her (Ebrahim’s) interpretation for different applications to summon the different witnesses.”
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said it would not be a wise decision to be seen to be supporting a view that certain witnesses should not be summonsed.
He warned the committee to tread carefully on the “dangerous zone we are to enter”.
“We have not been consulted as this committee who will be relevant witnesses chosen by the evidence leaders.
“I would advise that the committee must stay away from that, rather allow those who refuse to come forward that law must take its own course,” Holomisa said.
After some discussions, the committee decided not to summon Mazzone, Ramaphosa, Cilliers, Gcaleka, Gordhan, Pillay, Van Loggerenberg and Baloyi.
It deemed that Mvuyana should be summoned along with her colleague Rodney Mataboge, whom she worked with on the Rogue Unit investigation.
The committee heard that Mvuyana was on the list of confirmed Mkhwebane’s witnesses on condition that Matebogo would testify.
Malunga was considered as a witness that would assist the committee in the place of Gcaleka.
On choosing Madonsela as a witness, committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi, said, she “can assist the committee a great deal with its work”.
He stated that the committee has previously attended to requests for Ramaphosa’s appearance and made its decisions.
ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude agreed that they dealt with the matter several times.
“We exhausted it so let us not resuscitate it. Mr Ramaphosa will not add value as per charges that are before this committee,” Dlakude said.
DA MP Mimmy Gondwe said: “If we call Mr Ramaphosa, it will not add value to the work of this committee.”
Meanwhile, the inquiry will resume next Monday after a month-long break.
Dyantyi said they were left with a set of witnesses that was taking them closer to the conclusion of their work.
“We are likely not to have any breather or rest when we resume next week on Monday because we have all intentions to stick to our agreed programme.”
The inquiry plans to conclude with witnesses in February and prepare a draft report for comment by Mkhwebane in March.
“By April the National Assembly must have taken a particular decision, either way, on this matter,” Dyantyi said.
Cape Times