By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Powers and Privileges Committee says former Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula no longer has to answer for hiking the salary of secretary to Parliament Xolile George.
The salary of George was doubled from R2.6 million to more than R4.4m a year.
This led to the official opposition to file a complaint with the Powers and Privileges Committee to investigate Mapisa-Nqakula.
But Parliament’s legal adviser Andile Tetyana told members of the committee on Wednesday that now that Mapisa-Nqakula resigned as both speaker and member of parliament, the committee has no jurisdiction to investigate her.
He said the committee was tasked to investigate cases involving serving members of parliament.
Acting chairperson of the committee, Mankentsi Tlhape, said they agree that the matter was now moot and the investigation would be dropped.
Tlhape said the legal advice was clear that the committee can only probe cases related to members of the national legislature.
“I think there is an agreement that as this committee we derive our mandate from the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act of 2004. It has been indicated that the affected member has resigned both as a speaker and member of parliament, hence we agree to (drop) this matter. We don’t have jurisdiction over it anymore. That is how this committee will conclude on this matter. We are where we are, let us put this matter to rest. We don’t have jurisdiction,” said Tlhape.
She said members of the committee should put the matter behind them.
The committee’s jurisdiction is limited to members of the National Assembly. The former speaker resigned as both the speaker and member of the assembly on April 3 and thus the committee no longer has jurisdiction over her. This committee lack the authority in law to haul her before it because she is no longer a member of the assembly,” said Tetyana.
Meanwhile the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it is considering its options after the African National Congress (ANC) blocked moves to investigate the irregular hiking of secretary to parliament.
“We are in the process of considering options in terms of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, and the assembly rules to take this investigation forward,” DA deputy chief whip Annelie Lotriet said.
However, the DA welcomed the recommendation that Mapisa-Nqakula be investigated for contempt of parliament for allegedly irregularly hiking George’s salary shortly after his appointment.
The charges submitted by the chief whip of the opposition, Siviwe Gwarube, were initially referred to the committee by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Lechesa Tsenoli, on November 3.
On February 22, the committee sent a letter to Mapisa-Nqakula, who had to submit her response by March 4.
After considering Mapisa-Nqakula’s response, the initiator appointed by the committee, Karrisha Pillay SC, found on March 25 that there was a prima facie case that warranted the committee’s investigation and a subsequent hearing.
“The fact that Mapisa-Nqakula resigned before she could be held accountable neither absolves her — and by extension the executive authority of parliament — nor does it get to the bottom of the alleged irregular hiking George’s salary.”
Lotriet said George was still serving as the secretary to parliament, and the executive authority must be held accountable.
She said Pillay’s finding confirmed what the DA had long held, that the former speaker misled MPs when she induced them to endorse George for appointment to the position at a much lower salary package than he was earning in his previous job. The relatively low salary possibly excluded more qualified candidates from applying for the job.