I have today received a response to a parliamentary question from President Zuma, which confirms that the terms of the Donen Commission - appointed to investigate the role of South African individuals and companies in the Iraqi Oil-for-Food scandal - has not been extended, on the most spurious grounds.

In August last year, the DA called on the President to make the full report of the Commission available to the public and to reconstitute a commission of investigation into those implicated in the scandal.

However, the alleged involvement of top ANC officials, including the President, means that the truth about yet another instance of power abuse and gross misconduct by the ANC government will, in all likelihood, be hidden indefinitely from public scrutiny.

The Donen Commission was established by former President Thabo Mbeki to investigate kickbacks on oil-for-food deals allegedly paid to the Iraqi government. This violated strict stipulations that all revenue from oil sales was to be channelled to humanitarian projects, via an account monitored by the United Nations. President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale were among those allegedly implicated in the scandal when the findings of the report were leaked in August last year.

The President's justification for not extending the term of the Donen Commission is that, as domestic law will not allow for implicated individuals or companies to be held criminally liable, its findings would be purely "academic."

He bizarrely goes on to state that a decision will only be taken regarding the release of the Commission's findings to date when the subjects of the enquiry have been consulted. In so doing, the President has deemed the interests of those implicated in the report to be more important than the interests of the public. This is absurd.

It seems to have evaded the President, and, more worryingly, the State Legal Advisors he consulted in constructing this reply, that a commission of investigation and a criminal investigation are two completely separate forms of inquiry. That the commission will lead to no criminal charges against subjects found to be guilty of misconduct, bears no relevance to whether the commission should be allowed to conduct an investigation. A commission of inquiry is intended to investigate a matter of public concern. Its purpose is to act in the public interest by uncovering the truth. The sole explanation for not continuing with such an investigation would be that the highest ranks of government displayed a distinct determination for the facts to remain undisclosed.

The DA will be taking multiple steps in response to this development, including submitting a follow-up question to the President, calling on the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee to interrogate this decision and making a statement on the matter in Parliament.

It has been four years since the Donen Commission was established, and yet two successive ANC administrations have failed to take any decisive action against a single individual.

Despite regular protestations that his government is tough on corruption, the President's handling of this matter is indicative of the ANC's attitude towards executive misconduct and best democratic practice. The decision not to further investigate the Oil-for-Food scandal has been made in the interests of the ANC, not the public, and the DA will use every available mechanism to oppose it.