Songezo Zibi’s appointment as Scopa chairperson raises some eyebrows

Simon Nare

THE National Assembly has broken the long-standing tradition of appointing chairpersons of the Standing Committee of Public Accounts from the opposition when on Wednesday Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi was elected to the position.

Zibi, a former journalist, was elected with the backing of political parties that are part of the “Government of National Unity. This was against the tradition that SCOPA should be chaired by an MP from an opposition as the duties of the committee is to hold the government accountable.

ActionSA, whose parliamentary leader Athol Trollip was one of the front runners for the position, was quick to cry foul on the appointment.

“The election of Rise Mzansi’s honourable Songezo Zibi MP as Chairperson of SCOPA marks a troubling departure from our own National Assembly and international best practice. The multi-party government now clearly wishes to exercise oversight itself by deploying one of its own