Parliament grills Mary de Haas over hearsay claims on PKTT

By Johnathan Paoli

The ad-hoc parliamentary committee examining allegations of political interference and irregularities within the South African Police Service (SAPS) finished on Tuesday evening with an intense, often combative session featuring academic and self-proclaimed human rights activist Mary de Haas.

Over several hours, MPs from across the political spectrum repeatedly challenged the credibility, verifiability, and methodology behind her claims; many of which relied on unnamed police sources, unverified allegations and assertions she later withdrew under questioning.

The session continued in the afternoon with evidence leader and senior counsel Norman Arendse probing De Haas about her complaints regarding a Gauteng prosecutor whose promotion she described as questionable.

De Haas alleged that the prosecutor obstructed a hitman’s attempted confession, basing this on information from an unnamed police officer.

When Arendse asked why she had never lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Complaints (IDAC), she replied