Julius Malema criticises Parliament Committee for failing to subpoena Mkhwanazi
EFF leader Julius Malema accuses Parliament’s ad hoc committee of being “toothless” and demands the immediate subpoena of key witness Lt-General Mkhwanazi saying without his evidence the committee “doesn’t know what it’s talking about.”
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Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has slammed Parliament’s Ad Hoc committee after failing to secure the appearance of key witness KZN police commissioner Lieutenant- General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The committee has been tasked with ongoing consultations for the upcoming hearings. Malema has accused it of being “toothless” and “juniorised”
Speaking during a committee meeting on Wednesday, where members received a progress report on preparations, Malema commented that some MPs had initially opposed the committee’s formation but were now "pretending" to be interested in its activities.
“Some of you forget how this committee came about and many of you opposed the existence of such a committee and now because of whatever reason this committee is here you start finding a way of generalising it,” he said.
He rejected comparisons with the commission of inquiry, saying the committee had its own powers.
“What does our committee have to do with the commission of inquiry, which is toothless, it’s not binding, it can’t bite,” Malema said.
"We can never use a material of the commission in our committee. Mkhwanazi must write an affidavit directed to our chairperson and that becomes a document of our committee. Any other thing is a hearsay.”
Malema went further and accused members of undermining the committee by diluting its witness list and including deputy ministers “with no powers.”
“You are getting deputy ministers because you want to render this committee useless,” he said.
He insisted that Mkhwanzi, who made the initial allegations, should testify first.
“How can a person who started the allegations be the last one to testify? We need something before us and the person who can give that is Mkhwanazi, he has to come,” Malema said.
“Without Mkhwanazi , we are toothless, we are useless, we don’t know what we’re talking about.”
Malema also reminded members that the committee’s terms of reference allow it to subpoena reluctant witnesses.
“If you don’t know English it’s none of my problems,” he said.
“It’s none of my baby to feed Malta Bella. Mkhwanazi must be subpoenaed because what Mkhwanazi said is important and cannot be postponed for a day.”
Using an example of a previous case, Malema said allegations must be tested by calling the person who made them.
“They say Sibiya has stolen or taken the docket, go to the person who says I stole the dockets to give you evidence that I took the dockets. It doesn’t work like that,” he said.
“You must decide whether you want Mkhwanazi before the committee or you don’t want Mkhwanzi before the committee and if you want Mkhwanazi before the committee then in the terms of reference there are mechanisms to get Mkhwanazi into the committee,” he said.
Malema insisted the committee use its full powers. “On the basis of that, summon people because we now have something that gives us at least a prima facie to engage these people. I rest my case,” he said.
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