By Johnathan Paoli
Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating alleged corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system spent hours on Tuesday, well into the night, deliberating and ultimately demanding that Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Dianne Kohler Barnard recuse herself to “protect the integrity” of the committee.
The demands emanated from allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police chief Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that Kohler Barnard — a long-serving MP and member of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) — had mishandled confidential intelligence information, disclosed sensitive details about Crime Intelligence property acquisitions in press statements and parliamentary questions, and risked compromising covert police operations.
Kohler Barnard was in the committee as an alternative, standing in for Glynnis Breytenbach.
“The member of Parliament that I referred to before went out in the public and said no when I asked this questions there was no Joint Standing Committee of intelligence and the member asked me to apologize on national TV. I will apologise to the honourable member, that she has forgotten the oath she took, which seems to have an expiry date according to her,” Mkhwanazi told MPs.
He referred to a February DA statement in which Kohler Barnard called for an investigation into Crime Intelligence’s purchase of properties in Pretoria and Durban, questioning inflated prices and irregular approvals. The statement was linked to a letter she sent to the Inspector General of Intelligence outlining her suspicions.
Mkhwanazi said that while oversight was legitimate, intelligence issues could not be aired publicly without endangering operations. “For me, the concern is that members of Parliament use the press to make claims about intelligence matters, while members of Crime Intelligence are bound by law to remain silent and cannot respond in public,” he said.
He suggested her actions may have been intended to discredit Lieutenant-General Khumalo, head of Crime Intelligence, and undermine efforts to pursue criminal cartels.
The African National Congress (ANC), uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and Patriotic Alliance (PA) immediately demanded Kohler Barnard’s recusal from the committee, saying she was implicated by Mkhwanazi’s testimony and could not participate impartially. “We would like the DA and the member concerned to consider withdrawing her membership from the committee to protect all of us,” said ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli.
The DA rejected the demand, with committee member Ian Cameron insisting that due process be followed. “No one is going to recuse themselves, not tonight. We will go back and discuss. Someone cannot be found guilty without having had their say or giving their version,” he said. Cameron added that Kohler Barnard would address the committee directly to respond to the allegations.
The MK Party accused the DA of attempting to “bully” the committee into silence, saying it would not be intimidated.
Kohler Barnard has publicly denied the claims, calling them “outrageous, defamatory, and entirely baseless.” She said her actions were based on information already reported in national media and that she followed due process by referring her concerns to the Inspector General of Intelligence.
In a statement last month, she described suggestions of her involvement in criminal syndicates as “absurd,” adding that once sworn in, she had respected the rules of confidentiality. The DA has said that her interventions were aimed at exposing possible corruption within SAPS, not compromising intelligence work.
In February, Kohler Barnard publicly questioned how Crime Intelligence could justify paying R22.8 million for a Durban property listed for less than half that amount.
The committee meeting adjourned at about 10pm, with chairman Soviet Lekganyane saying the DA would be allowed to “come back and report tomorrow” when the committee starts again at 9am.
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