CAPE TOWN – The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is now seeking responses from President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the now-disbanded Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
The committee is seeking written responses from Ramaphosa regarding the team's creation and mandate.
Ad Hoc Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane said Parliament will seek answers from Ramaphosa on how the PKTT came into existence and its mandate.
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"Remember, the President announced that a PKTT or a task team was going to be formed in response to the schedule of violence, political killings that were happening in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
"So, it will be important to have an understanding on how the task team came into existence, what its mandate was from the office of the President, and how it was disbanded," Lekganyane said.
However, Legal expert Elton Hart says Parliament’s decision not to question Ramaphosa in person raised concerns about precedent and unfair treatment of witnesses.
“The perception it will create is that they [Parliament] are protecting the President. Yes, he might be citizen number one, but he must be treated the same as every other ordinary South African.”
Hart said the legal risk with written responses is that they could be treated as hearsay, as MPs will not have an opportunity to scrutinise and cross-examine them.
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“A lot of the information that he will be sharing is information he got from the national commissioner; he was not personally involved in the investigation," Hart said..
"That makes it hearsay. If the Ad Hoc says the president should not appear, what message are they sending out to the other witnesses who have already been subpoenaed if they also don’t want to come.”