'Nkandla report to be kept secret'

13 May 2013 | Sapa | 34 comments

A report into spending on President Jacob Zuma's private home at Nkandla will be discussed behind closed doors, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said.

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The Democratic Alliance had received a letter from National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu that the Public Works Task Team Report on the R206 million Nkandla upgrade would be referred to Parliament's intelligence standing committee.

"This means that the report will be referred to a committee which will meet behind closed doors, and members of the committee will not be able to share the contents of this report with the public. The committee is never open to the public," said Mazibuko.
She said information would be "buried" and those responsible for the debacle would not be held accountable.
"According to the Speaker's letter, a legal opinion was received which supports the referral of the report to the joint standing committee on intelligence, and that the committee [will] then determine which components of the report can be referred to the appropriate portfolio committee," she said.
The DA had very little hope that the information would be made public, because it related to a national key point.
"Since the Speaker has passed the buck [on] to the intelligence committee, it will be [at] their discretion as to what is made public," said Mazibuko.
She believed the report should instead be referred to the portfolio committees on public works, defence, and police.
"I will write to the Speaker to request that he reconsider this decision and make public the legal opinion on which he is basing this decision."