Mkhwanazi unavailable for ad hoc committee due to Madlanga Commission duties
Parliament’s ad hoc committee may delay hearings until October after KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi confirmed he’s unavailable due to ongoing consultations with the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry..
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
Parliament’s ad hoc committee says KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi will not be available for the Ad Hoc committee due to commitments with the Madlanga Commission.
This was confirmed during a committee meeting on Wednesday, where members received a progress report on ongoing consultations and preparations for the upcoming hearings.
The committee had initially aimed to engage with Mkhwanazi before 22 September, but this has now been deemed impossible due to his involvement with the commission, where he is expected to testify from 17 September for five days.
“We sent him a letter again requesting that he appear before the committee on the 6th of September. He responded to say that he is still not available, he is busy with consultations that will lead to him taking a statement, and those consultations will conclude on the 12th of September,” they said.
Mkhwanazi is also set to meet with evidence leaders on 15 and 16 September in preparation for his testimony.
Evidence leader Advocate Norman Arendse SC, assisting the committee, expressed concern about the delay this causes, noting that the committee will not even have access to Mkhwanazi’s statement until the day he testifies.
“We have now been told that we, as evidence leaders, will get a copy of his statement to the Commission, only on the morning of 17th September, just before he starts giving his evidence to the Commission and to the public and the media,” Arendse told the committee.
“That means, we can’t share it with the committee. Also, because the statement belongs to the Commission.”
The delay in Mkhwanazi’s availability has implications for the committee’s schedule, which, according to Arendse, could now be pushed to October if they choose to wait for him.
“If the terms of reference, strictly interpreted and strictly applied, mean that we must start with Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi, then it means a start in early October, to be realistic,” Arendse said.
He added that the legal team believed the committee could begin sooner with other witnesses whose consultations had already taken place.
“We feel that we are ready to start earlier, definitely by the 22nd of September. There is sufficient evidence thus far from what we have heard to give effect to the committee's terms of reference.”
Arendse warned that continuing to wait on the Commission’s schedule could result in more delays.
“We may again run into problems and sort of play follow the leader after the Commission, because we may again be told at that point, no, you can't call this witness or that witness because we are busy with that witness,” he said.
He also proposed beginning with an expert witness,a matter already circulated among members, or calling other key figures such as National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, suspended Minister Senzo Mchunu, former Minister Bheki Cele, and the deputy ministers.
The committee is expected to decide whether to adapt its approach or wait for Mkhwanazi to become available.
Chairperson Molapi Lekganyane left the agenda open for members to provide input on the way forward.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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