ActionSA MP highlights urgency over delayed witness appearances before Parliament

ActionSA MP Dereleen James has demanded the urgent finalisation of the appearance of Brown Mogotsi and Paul O’Sullivan before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee, following “a prolonged and unnecessary impasse” which the party believes will threaten to derail the work of the committee.

James, speaking on the sidelines of Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, shared her thoughts on the appearance of Mogotsi, O’Sullivan and the testimony of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Monday’s Ad Hoc meeting saw the committee rehash the matter of forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and North West businessman Brown Mogotsi. Both of whom had raised concerns about security reasons behind their unwillingness to appear before the committee.

The MPs had previously resolved to write to the Speaker of Parliament, Thoko Didiza, to subpoena both witnesses.

“This subpoena should have happened a long time ago, to start with. In fact, there wouldn't have been a need to subpoena them because I believe that they were part of the people, the key role players in everything that has unfolded. They should have been brought to Parliament during the first or second week.

“The fact that we've delayed on key witnesses, this is where we find ourselves at. ActionSA has been clear from the onset - have a strategic way of identifying people who can come here with evidence that carries weight.

“The fact that we've just gone and drawn people's names out of a hat, is why we find ourselves here,” James said.

“If they appear virtually, Mr O’Sullivan has said he will not take questions from ActionSA. Let's say we settle for him to appear virtually. When certain people answer, he can just switch off his microphone. There's that, and then secondly, let's say the Speaker does go ahead, and we do subpoena him. How long does that take when we mean to conclude our work on the 20th of February?

“So right now, because of the delays of this committee of the Speaker, this is where we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place,” she said.

“Look, I think at this point, we have enough to make sound recommendations and to make submissions, because how much more do we want to hear. We’ve already heard of the rot in the system - we know that there's political interference, we know that there's corruption, we know that there's cartels, what more is it that we want to hear?

“I think it's just important for us to note as a committee that we cannot be undermined and to show South Africans that we have gone the extra mile to try and get those two delinquents before Parliament,” James said.

Most of Monday’s meeting also saw the committee debate whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should appear before the committee or if he should submit a written affidavit. The committee settled on formulating questions which will be sent to the president to answer.

Sharing her thoughts on the matter, James said: “Do we really want to see Cyril? You know, what we want from Cyril is for him to take action as the leader of this country.

“What is he going to come and tell us? Is this just a power struggle now between political parties? What is this? We don't want to see the president here. He must take action. We have one expectation from him, and that is to act.”

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za