Mkhwanazi inquiry: External legal counsel to lead proceedings

The Ad Hoc Committee that will inquire into the allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, will use the services of an external legal counsel to lead evidence and obtain advice.

This was among the decisions taken when MPs discussed the committee’s terms of reference.

ANC MP Xola Nqola had proposed that they should strive to curb costs by making use of the parliamentary legal services.

“We must not use the services of external legal practitioners but rather utilise the services of the parliamentary legal and constitutional services,” Nqola said.

He said Parliament has a capable team that can perform all the work that is required from an external legal counsel to advise and lead evidence.

MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo said the parliamentary legal services have demonstrated on numerous occasions that they lack capacity to a certain extent.

“We need an experienced and senior legal professional with demonstrable skills, as the work we undertake may be subject to judicial scrutiny,” said Nomvalo, adding that they had expressed their concerns on the quality of work by the parliamentary legal team.

“We don’t have confidence in the legal team, with the greatest respect,” he said.

The DA did not support the idea of the use of the parliamentary legal service. MP Ian Cameron said public confidence was critical to the parliamentary process.

“It is important for us to pull relevant capacity from outside. I don’t think Parliament has the capacity at the moment to give the skills set and attention to his matter,” Cameron said.

EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys said the use of the parliamentary legal service could compromise impartiality and invite accusations of bias.

“Appoint an independent and seasoned person for the duration of the committee,” Mathys said.

ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli said he understood why MPs were worried about the use of the in-house legal services.

He noted that a member of the parliamentary legal services made some comments that did not sit well with some of them at a previous meeting.

While Ntuli said he did not think there was incompetence in the division, he said they supported the idea to get outside capacity to help them discharge their responsibility.

Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane said the parliamentary legal services should come back and brief on the procurement of the external legal counsel.

“When we start work, we must not have any issue and be told there is no money or they did not get the requisite skills. We don’t want those things. Everything must be spot on, exceptionally good,” Lekganyane said.

During the meeting, MPs went through each of the terms of reference, discussing the issue of protocol in handling classified, sensitive, or confidential matters, among others.

It was decided that Mkhwanazi, as the originator of the allegations, would be the first to testify, and then others would follow him.

The committee rejected some of the proposals that suggested the extension of the scope of the committee outside the resolution taken by the National Assembly.

These related to human rights abuses by SAPS and assessing the role of Popcru in undermining disciplinary processes and shielding compromised officers from accountability.

The committee deferred the adoption of its terms of reference as amended to allow the support staff to rework the amended terms of reference and present a final document before the adoption.

The ANC had proposed the adoption and was supported by the MK, Party and DA, but the EFF cautioned against the adoption without seeing the final document.

EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys said: “This is not minutes we can say adopted. We need to see the final copy and then adopt.”

Lekganyane said the final document will be circulated within two days and will allow members to check if the decisions of the meeting were captured correctly.

“We shall strive to make sure in the next two days the final document is released, and we also make sure there is a meeting for the document to be adopted,” said Lekganyane, adding that a draft programme of the committee will be developed to indicate when they can start to work.

Cape Times