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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly to request that the matter of the diamond gifted to the Deputy President, Paul Mashatile's wife, by diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg, who is currently facing charges of fraud, theft, racketeering and money laundering, be referred to the Parliamentary Committee on the Presidency.

After a complaint from the DA to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, the Deputy President was found guilty of not disclosing the gift, alleged to be a gift to his wife, in his disclosures of interests. Parliament fined the Deputy President R10,000.00 for this failure.

However, many questions are left unanswered that cannot be answered through other parliamentary mechanisms.

These include:

• What is the exact nature of the friendship between Liebenberg, and the Deputy President and his wife?
• What is the origin, nature and value of the diamond in question?
• What was the motivation for Liebenberg gifting this diamond to the Deputy President's wife, and did he benefit in any way politically as a direct or indirect result thereof?

The Committee on the Presidency, which was set up due to continued pressure from the DA, is well placed to deal with these questions. The new parliamentary rules dealing with this committee stipulates that the Speaker can refer such a request to the committee for investigation.

Should the Speaker decline this request, the DA will bring a formal motion to this effect to the National Assembly in terms of the rules.

Issued by George Michalakis MP - DA Chief Whip in Parliament