ANC MP Soviet Lekganyane has dismissed concerns about his ability to be impartial when leading the ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the police service, where the ANC’s suspended police minister, Senzo Mchunu, is implicated.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has made serious allegations against senior law enforcement officials, including Mchunu, accusing him of interfering in police investigations and colluding with businesspeople to disband the political killings task team in KwaZulu-Natal.
An ad hoc committee comprising members from different parties was appointed to investigate Mkhwanazi’s allegations, with Lekganyane elected to lead the committee on Tuesday during the first meeting in parliament.
His appointment was criticised by opposition parties, which raised concerns about him probing the allegations against a senior member of his party.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James argued Lekganyane’s appointment could compromise public trust in the committee.
“How do we garner public trust when we have a chair who has been elected from the very party where most of these people are embroiled?” James said.
“How does that make the public feel to know we have a member from the same family where all these people come from?”
EFF leader Julius Malema, who declined the nomination to chair the committee, said the problem was not Lekganyane but the party he represented.
“There’s a difference between not being happy with the ANC occupying the position of chair and the person occupying the position of chair,” Malema said.
“An impression must not be created that we have a problem with you; we have a problem with the ANC occupying that position.”
In an interview with the SABC, Lekganyane said he should not be judged based on his political affiliation.
“Allegations made by Mkhwanazi are not against the ANC; they are only made against one member of the ANC, and others whose political organisations we don’t know,” he said.
“Let us not put the cart before the horse because we are going to invite Mkhwanazi before the committee, and we don’t know [what will come out] as he will be expounding on the allegations.”
Lekganyane said many ANC MPs and chairs had been robust in terms of doing oversight work, without taking sides with fellow members.
He said all committee members should be treated fairly, emphasising that the whole committee had a responsibility to ensure it maintained its own integrity.
TimesLIVE
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