By Johnathan Paoli
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has declined, for now, to approve attempts by the ad hoc committee investigating allegations of criminal infiltration and political interference in the criminal justice system to subpoena forensic investigator Paul O’ Sullivan and businessman and political fixer Brown Mogotsi.
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Didiza said in response to separate letters about summoning the men that the instruction to issue a summons may only be given after the Speaker agrees with the committee’s resolution, and that concurrence cannot be exercised arbitrarily.
Any decision to issue summonses must rest on the legally required grounds, including whether a witness has failed or refused, without sufficient cause, to appear.
Regarding Mogotsi, Didiza said the committee had addressed costs such as accommodation, flights, transfers and subsistence, but “did not engage with his personal security concerns”, after he requested a security detail for himself and his immediate family.
“I am advised that should this matter proceed to court, Parliament will be required to demonstrate that it engaged Mr Mogotsi on the reasonableness of his personal security proposals ie the nature, form, size and the reasons for the proposed security detail, together with the attendant cost thereof,” Didiza wrote.
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Regarding O’Sullivan, Didiza said the committee had been told he was overseas and planned to return towards the end of February. He has requested permission to testify virtually, citing both his absence from South Africa and concerns about his personal security.
Didiza said it was clear from the correspondence before her that the committee did not engage with the reasons provided in his virtual-appearance application, and instead focused on concerns about the tone of his correspondence.
She also noted that he offered to testify at a South African embassy on condition that no public statement was made about which embassy it was.
“In the premises, I am loathe to grant concurrence in circumstances where there is an absence of demonstrable proof that the Committee has indeed engaged with Mr O’Sullivan’s reasons regarding his application to appear before the Committee virtually,” she wrote.
Didiza asked the committee to convene to give due consideration to the security proposals and the virtual-testimony request, and said she would like to receive copies of its minutes and resolutions in future, when it invokes subpoena powers.
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