Tlakula off the hook - for now

Cape Town - Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
chair Pansy Tlakula is off the hook for now, after
technical mistakes by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela,
an ad hoc Parliamentary committee decided on
Thursday.
The committee was tasked with considering
Madonsela's report, which found Tlakula had played a
"grossly irregular" role in procuring the Riverside Office
Park building in Centurion, Pretoria.
A legal opinion tabled in the committee found
Madonsela had made several procedural mistakes - a
position accepted by all political parties represented on
the committee.
Committee chair Luwellyn Landers said the opinion
meant it would be illegal for the committee to take any
action based on Madonsela's report.
Both the public protector's office and the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) are chapter nine
institutions.
MPs said Parliament could not be seen to be impeding
the independence of the bodies.
"We are going to draft a report that says it is not
within our competency to take any action; that any
remedial action proposed in her [Madonsela's] report
will be dealt with in our report," Landers said.
"It will simply say something to the effect that
Treasury, the IEC and home affairs need to tighten up
any procurement processes in the IEC and that's it."
Parliament could not do anything more because of the
constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Overstepped mandate
Landers and Democratic Alliance MP James Selfe were
tasked by the committee to draft a report, which would
more than likely be formally adopted by MPs next
week.
Selfe said Madonsela had followed the wrong
processes, creating the impression that she had
overstepped her mandate.
"We think that it is illegal in terms of the way the
Electoral Act is written, read with the relevant
provisions of the Constitution.... It is impossible for
Parliament to do what the public protector is asking it
to do," Selfe said.
The public protector made two requests when
submitting her report to Parliament, Selfe said.
One was to ask the National Assembly Speaker to meet
the electoral commission, with the exception of the
chairperson, to look at Tlakula's allegation that the
report was in some way defective or biased.
The second, that the report be referred to the Electoral
Court, was branded as bizarre by MPs in the committee
because of the constitutional principle of separation of
powers.
Selfe said Madonsela had dealt with matters the wrong
way around.
"If it had been her [Madonsela's] intention to refer the
matter to the Electoral Court, she should have, on
finding evidence of prima facie misconduct, referred the
matter directly to the court," Selfe said.
"If the Electoral Court, after investigation, found that to
be the case, then the court would have produced a
report for the National Assembly which would have set
up an ad hoc committee to consider that report, and
then, if it was found she had indeed committed
misconduct, to recommend to the president that she be
dismissed."