By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GalloImages.
The Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery has today elected Cedric Frolick and Jomo Nyambi as its Co-Chairpersons.
Seventeen days after both houses of parliament agreed to establish the ad hoc committee on flood disaster relief and recovery, it finally convened on Friday to elect its co-chairpersons – one from the National Assembly (NA) and one from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
The mandate of the committee – which will lapse in November – is to oversee the response and implementation of the relief measures by the government.
It was established after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster last month.
Frolick was implicated in the third part of the State Capture Commission’s report, which recommended that be subjected to further investigation for possible corruption.
The commission found that Frolick “sought to assist Bosasa [to] resolve its impasse” with former ANC MP Vincent Smith, who chaired the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services at the time.
The commission found this improved Bosasa’s “relations with a parliamentary oversight body that was concerning itself with allegations of irregularities in the award of contracts to Bosasa”.
Smith and former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi are already facing criminal charges related to corruption around Bosasa.
DA welcomed the eventual establishment of Parliament’s ad hoc committee to oversee and assess the impact of devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
In a statement DA said, “we trust the committee and the elected co-chairs, Frolick and Nyambi will put party politics aside and work in the best interests of those that have lost so much.”
“The DA looks forward to working with all members of the committee to hold all three spheres of government accountable and ensure residents affected by the floods are able to rebuild their lives.”
Former KZN Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC, Sipho Hlomuka said during his budget speech this week that here was R25 billion in damages to both public and private infrastructure across the province.