Note to Editors: Find attached soundbites in English and Sesotho by DA North West Spokesperson on Community Safety and Transport, Freddy Sonakile.
The Chairperson of the North West Provincial Legislature’s (NWPL) Portfolio Committee for Community Safety and Transport, Kim Medupe MPL, deliberately obstructed any attempt by Committee Members to conduct their Constitutionally-mandated oversight role with the dysfunctional and technically bankrupt Northwest Transport Investment (NTI) State-Owned Entity (SOE) at a Committee meeting yesterday, 10 September 2019.
Chairperson Medupe justified her behaviour with the poor excuse that the newly appointed NTI Board is not in a position to respond to questions and concerns Members may have on the dismal state the entity finds itself in.
Chairperson Medupe has, since her appointment as Chairperson of the Committee, been overly protective of the NTI delegation specifically pertaining to matters of accountability.
Members of the Legislature who are duly elected to office cannot be prevented from discharging their Constitutional duties by Committee Chairpersons. The Legislature has a Constitutional duty to conduct effective oversight over departments and entities which are all rife with corruption and maladministration.
The new NTI Board cannot be prevented from accounting to the Committee about the state of the entity. In fact, these members should be thoroughly scrutinised, as more than half of the members have served in the boards of either the NTI or other entities previously and can hardly boast of clean records from previous board appointments.
The DA will today write to Speaker Suzan Dantjie, requesting her to investigate this matter. The business of the Legislature cannot be based on ANC party politics that seek to protect corrupt and questionable cadres.
The purpose of the letter will be to raise a matter of contempt in line with the Rule 321 (a) of the Standing Rules 9th Edition. The Rule states that contempt of the Legislature is conduct which potentially or actually interfere improperly with the ability of the Legislature, its Committees or any of its Members to perform their functions.
The North West Legislature is not an ANC branch. The time has come for those who fail in their duties to the citizens of North West to be brought to book.
The DA will continue to be at the forefront to ensure that the North West Legislature functions in line with its constitutional mandate.