The Office of the ANC Chief Whip is disappointed by the needless
filibustering tactics today by the opposition parties in the ad hoc
committee set up to consider the President’s report regarding security
upgrades at his Nkandla private residence. Due to this stonewalling by
the very same parties who ostensibly support accountability, the
committee has lost a day’s work it may never recover.

The National Assembly’s resolution of 19 August 2014 regarding the
formation of the ad hoc committee is clear that the ad committee must
consider all relevant reports relating to the security upgrades. This
resolution, which is obtainable from parliamentary records, sought to
broaden the scope of the committee’s work to ensure that it does not
confine itself to reports of the President and the Public Protector
only, but all other key reports on the matter. The DA’s proposal at that
sitting to include only one report at the expense of all other reports
was rejected, as it would have limited the scope of the committee’s
mandate to only the report of the Public Protector. It is therefore
perplexing that the opposition parties would today make a U-turn by
rejecting the same resolution (terms of reference) of the House they
agreed to merely because they suspect it does not take into
consideration all the relevant reports.

It is clear that the opposition came to the first meeting of the ad hoc
committee with a single aim to frustrate the committee’s work, resulting
in the meeting being adjourned prematurely.

As the ANC we believe that a clear resolution of the House has been
passed regarding the terms of reference. We will therefore engage
internally and decide on what we believe should be the best way forward.
The ANC would like to see the ad hoc committee getting down to business
without delay in order to achieve its objectives.

The unnecessary and ill-advised stonewalling we saw today only serves to
frustrate Parliament’s resolve to hold the executive accountable on this
matter.