No Summons for Sibiya: Parliament clarifies status of ad hoc committee on Mkhwanazi allegations

Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee probing allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has not yet summoned suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya to appear before it on September 10, contrary to Sibiya’s claims.

Ian Cameron, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police and member of the Ad Hoc Committee, clarified in an interview with SABC that no such summons had been issued, suggesting a possible confusion with the Madlanga Commission, where Sibiya may have been summoned instead.

"Interestingly, he says he's been summoned because none of us in the Ad Hoc Committee know about it," said Cameron.

"Several of us in the Police Committee serve on the Ad Hoc Committee; the very first person that would appear before the committee is General Mkhwanazi.

''So General Sibiya saying that he's been summoned according to us is incorrect, unless there's something blatantly wrong with internal communication in Parliament."

He further noted that even the committee programme has yet to be finalised. "We don't even have confirmation about the programmes of the committee. It's extremely frustrating because obviously we really want to get to work urgently and we've been waiting and there's been so many delays. So something is wrong."

"Maybe he's been summoned to appear before the commission on the 10th of September. But according to us, it hasn't been agreed on that he would appear before the Ad Hoc Committee."

He confirmed this lack of clarity had been raised internally: "I posted it on the WhatsApp group of the Ad Hoc Committee earlier and no one could confirm that he's been summoned. So according to me, he has not been summoned for the 10th of September."

Outside the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, Sibiya responded to questions about the issue, saying he would speak openly “at the Ad Hoc and at the Commission” next week when the time is appropriate, reinforcing his expectation to appear before both forums.

''As you can see, as you know but I will wait for my time to comment at the ad hoc and at the commission. I will be able to open up and say what needs to be said.”

Cameron also acknowledged frustrations around the slow pace of the Ad Hoc Committee, echoing concerns raised by the MK Party.

"It really is extremely frustrating. We should have started by now. You'd remember when I brought the motion in parliament regarding the idea of the Ad Hoc Committee, the proposal was that we would need to finish by the 31st of October. It is now the 3rd of September and we haven't even started yet."

He said the committee’s mandate is clear and wide-ranging. "We have to go and determine, look at everything Mkhwanazi said, the accusations, the allegations that he made. And then we need to summon all the relevant entities to come and share with us what their involvement or not has been."

Despite this, he warned the committee is running out of time.

"Our biggest challenge is the time. I think we've had significant delays and it's going to be extremely frustrating to try and finish this before the 31st of October."

On reports that the Madlanga Commission is now in possession of the controversial 121 dockets at the heart of the matter, Cameron said, "The fact that they have copies make it, I think, make it more palatable .I'm hopeful that we'll get the relevant reports to indicate to us whether there has been tampering with those dockets while they were removed."

 "Time will tell, and I guess the Ad Hoc Committee as well as the Commission will hopefully bring us some clarity in terms of what the real story is."

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