Committee for Section 194 Enquiry

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The Committee for Section 194 Enquiry is an ad hoc committee of the National Assembly of South Africa that was established on 7 April 2021 to determine if there are grounds for the removal of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane as Public Protector.

Contents

Background

In February 2020, the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, Natasha Mazzone, submitted a motion to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, with regards to Rule 129R of the National Assembly rules for the initiation of proceedings, more particularly an inquiry to establish whether or not Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane should be removed from office as Public Protector on the basis of misconduct and/or incompetence. [1]

After the declaration by the Speaker that Mazzone's motion was in order, she appointed a three-member independent panel headed by retired Constitutional Court justice Bess Nkabinde and consisting of advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza and academic Johan de Waal on 25 November 2020 to conduct and finalise a preliminary assessment to determine whether there is prima facie evidence showing that the Public Protector is not fit to hold office. Mkhwebane did attempt to stop the formation of the panel and approached the Western Cape High Court but her application was dismissed. [2] [3] On 6 December 2020, Modise granted an extension to the panel and extended its mandate from 30 days to 90 days. [4] Modise received the panel's report on 25 February 2021. [5] On 1 March 2021, the report was released and it found prima facie evidence of incompetence and misconduct on the part of Mkhwebane. The panel also recommended that the charges, based on the findings, be referred to a committee of the National Assembly to investigate. [6]

Legislative history

During a sitting of the National Assembly on 16 March 2021, the House approved the establishment of a special committee to conduct an inquiry into Mkhwebane's fitness to hold office. The vote went as follows with 275 MPs voting in support, 40 MPs voting against, and one abstaining. The majority of the "for" votes came from the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA). The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the United Democratic Movement (UDM), the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and Al Jama-ah voted against it. The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and the African Independent Congress were absent. [7] [8] [9]

Membership

On 7 April 2021, the ad-hoc committee was established with parties represented in the National Assembly appointing members to serve on the committee. The Rules Committee resolved that the committee should consist of 26 members: 11 voting members and 15 non-voting members. [10] Only five (the ANC, DA, EFF, IFP and FF Plus) out of the fourteen parties in the National Assembly had voting members. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa complained about smaller parties not having a vote. [11] The Rules Committee of the National Assembly met on 5 May to consider giving smaller parties voting rights, however, the ANC, DA and FF Plus opposed the idea. [11] Holomisa then wrote to Modise again and Modise then decided to expand the committee membership. On 25 May 2021, the Rules Committee unanimously agreed to Modise's decision to expand the membership of the committee to 36 members to give all political parties in the National Assembly proportional voting rights. [11]

All 36 members of the committee will have voting rights and the proportional membership will be as follows: 19 members from the African National Congress, 4 members from the Democratic Alliance, two members from the Economic Freedom Fighters and 1 member each from the Inkatha Freedom Party, the African Christian Democratic Party, the National Freedom Party, the Freedom Front Plus, the United Democratic Movement, Good, the African Independent Congress, the Congress of the People, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and Al Jama-ah. The African Transformation Movement was also allocated a voting member, despite them saying that they did not want to participate in the committee. [12]

As of 21 June 2021, the members of the committee are as follows: [13]

PartyMember
Good Shaun August
Freedom Front Plus Heloïse Denner (Alternate)
ANC Dorries Dlakude
ANC Qubudile Dyantyi (Chairperson)
Al Jama-ah Ganief Hendricks
ANC Judy Hermans
UDM Bantu Holomisa
ANC Tina Joemat-Pettersson
ANC Thanduxolo Khalipha
ANC Tdimalo Legwase
Democratic Alliance Annelie Lotriet
ANC Sahlulele Luzipo
COPE Willie Madisha
ANC Mikateko Mahlaule
IFP Zandile Majozi
EFF Julius Malema
ANC Jane Mananiso
ANC Boyce Maneli (Alternate)
EFF Omphile Maotwe
Democratic Alliance Zakhele Mbhele (Alternate)
ANC Teliswa Mgweba
Democratic Alliance Kevin Mileham
IFP Christian Msimang (Alternate)
Freedom Front Plus Corné Mulder
ANC Simon Nkosi
Democratic Alliance Baxolile Nodada
ANC Xola Nqola
ANC Dipuo Peters
Democratic Alliance Leon Schreiber
ANC Albert Seabi
NFP Munzoor Shaik Emam
ANC Violet Siwela
ANC Gijimani Skosana (Alternate)
ACDP Marie Sukers
ANC Manketsi Tlhape
ANC Nokuzola Tolashe
ANC Grace Tseke (Alternate)
Democratic Alliance Benedicta van Minnen (Alternate)

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References

  1. ↑ "Adhoc Committee on Section 194 Enquiry". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Modise appoints three member team to assess Mkhwebane's fitness to hold office". SABC News Online. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Ensor, Linda (25 November 2020). "Modise appoints retired justice Bess Nkabinde to chair panel for Mkhwebane inquiry" . BusinessDay. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Raborife, Mpho (6 December 2020). "Period for panel appointed to consider Mkhwebane's removal extended from 30 to 90 days". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Gerber, Jan (25 February 2021). "Modise receives panel's report on Mkhwebane's removal - but recommendation still under wraps". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Gerber, Jan (1 March 2021). "Panel finds prima facie evidence of Mkhwebane's 'incompetence and misconduct'". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Ndenze, Babalo (17 March 2021). "Parly to establish committee for Mkhwebane's impeachment inquiry". EWN. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "National Assembly Approves Establishment of Special Committee to Conduct Inquiry into Public Protector's Fitness to Hold Office". Parliament of South Africa. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Makinana, Andisiwe (16 March 2021). "Special committee to probe Busisiwe Mkhwebane's fitness to hold office". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Appointment of Members of Parliament to Serve on Section 194 Enquiry Committee". Parliament of South Africa. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 Gerber, Jan (25 May 2021). "All parties will have a vote in Busisiwe Mkhwebane's impeachment committee". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "Section 194 Enquiry Committee Expanded to Provide All Parties with Proportional Voting Rights". Parliament of South Africa. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Announcements, tablings and committee reports" (PDF). Parliament of South Africa. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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