The ANC seems determined to deceive the public with regards to a Western Cape provincial parliament appeals committee decision to conduct the appeal hearing for the deputy speaker of the provincial parliament in a closed meeting. I refer specifically to an opinion piece by Khaled Sayed that was published on Friday, January 26.
The fact of the matter is that closed meetings for disciplinary matters are standard practice in the provincial legislatures across the country, as well as the National Assembly.
This is because an individual is innocent until found guilty by the relevant committee, and as such has the right to privacy until proceedings are completed. The Western Cape conduct committee conducts hearings in-committee, and the appeals committee follows the same custom. The findings of the committees are always made public in reports to the House.
In the National Assembly, for the moment still in ANC control, the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests, the powers and privileges committee and the disciplinary committee all regularly handle disciplinary matters in closed meetings. I would advise the honourable Sayed to refer to his own party’s practices before accusing the Western Cape.
The ANC’s efforts to fabricate controversy where none exists are characteristic of a dying party trying desperately to be relevant. The ANC has unfortunately resorted to communicating in bad faith and blatantly misrepresenting the facts to fit their own poorly spun narrative. It shows a stunning lack of integrity on the part of the opposition. This is not surprising as the ANC has for years been morally bankrupt.
The Western Cape is the bestrun province in the country, as confirmed by various studies.
The Western Cape Government stands ready to take on more responsibility through the devolution of key competencies to the Provincial Government.
The DA stands ready to succeed where the ANC national government has failed.
* Chairperson of the Provincial Legislature’s Appeals Committee, Andricus van Der Westhuizen Cape Town.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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