CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance has raised the alarm over delays in finalising the terms of reference for Parliament’s ad hoc committee probing alleged high-level corruption within the SAPS.
DA spokesperson on police, Ian Cameron, calls the delays frustrating, as Parliament's legal service was supposed to deliver the terms of reference two weeks ago.
But they were delayed by four days.
READ | SAPS Turmoil | Ad Hoc Committee to finalise terms of reference
According to Cameron, this delay resulted in a knock-on effect for the entire process.
As a result, instead of three months for the investigation, the committee now hardly has just over two months to conclude its work.
According to Cameron, the meeting on Monday took approximately 10 hours for members to reach common ground, with everyone agreeing on the draft terms of reference.
This did not sit well with Cameron, who now questions if some members think that this is an opportunity to grand stand, dragging a meeting that was only meant to take approximately four hours to over seven hours.
“When you walk into that room, you are meant to effectively take off your political party hat because now you are a representative of Parliament conducting a specific investigation.”
He emphasised that while political parties' ideas are important and need to be considered, it is still important to respect the public as well.
The committee was established to investigate KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims that criminal syndicates have infiltrated the justice system.