A request to summon President Cyril Ramaphosa to appear before suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s impeachment inquiry has been turned down.
After considering Parliamentary legal opinion, most parties on the committee have indicated they do not think it’s necessary.
The request from Mkhwebane’s legal team came after the State Attorney responded on Ramaphosa’s behalf last month, stating he did not think it was appropriate for the president to be called to testify.
So far, the inquiry has only summoned one witness to appear before it, former investigator Tebogo Kekana.
Parliament’s legal advisors say matters related to the Public Protector’s report on the CR17 campaign, have already been ventilated and concluded in the courts.
The president may also have to exercise his executive duties at a later stage, and therefore careful consideration should be given to drawing him into the inquiry in these preliminary stages.
A witness should also ideally only be summoned if they are able to provide the committee with information that’s necessary for it to determine the veracity of the charges.
Committee chairperson Richard Dyantyi: “We’re not going to go that route, we’re not doing it. We are not responding in an affirmative way to the Public Protector’s team and in fact, on behalf of this committee listening to this legal opinion, if there’s a letter that we must write to the Pubic Protector’s legal team, is that the subpoena for the president is declined. That’s the summary based on the arguments listed there on that particular legal opinion,” Dyantyi said.
The inquiry is due to continue on Wednesday.
-EWN
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