Hof Communications Cape Town 10 December 2017 This editorial is the opinion of the editors of ParlyReport Deep breathing is the order of the day fter having endured so many of President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet reshuffles, most of them in his A own interests, it is painful to think that in all probability there is still one more shuffle to go. In the past, this regular passing of the hat has allowed minister after minister to side-step the truth and report to Parliament on a “it wasn’t me” basis. It has been the bane of Zuma’s presidency and in many cases the cover up for wholesale corruption and the ineptitude of some of those anointed. When the music stops… So, it is with trepidation that Parliament awaits another round of new ministerial faces which will probably coincide with a new round of appointments of chairperson of committees, let alone some new faces in the benches. This is all at a time when the economy sits at tipping point. Once again, the parliamentary telephone directory will be at the mercy of ever-changing power battles within the governing party, a minor matter it may seem, but which somehow represents the country-wide breakdown in communications across of whole section of the governance and political spectrum. It occurs every time cabinet portfolios get switched around. This waiting period for new faces is the same as the usual vacuum before an election. In this case, however, the ordinary Joe has no say in outcome. In an election, one sees a manifesto of beliefs, values, policies and an appeal to the electorate. In this case it is a choice between more of the same, less of the same, or if unity wins, how many compromises there will be. Fruitless and wasteful To put it simply, in the case of Parliament we shall be learning who will be picking up the ministerial pack of cards and who will be contributing to the promotion of nearly fifty pieces of legislation from tabling to law. The current power battle within the ANC will tell us, for example, who will be finalising a stalled and messed up Minerals and Petroleum Resources Amendment Bill; a confused Border Management Authority Bill; a Land Reform Programme from Rural Affairs that has got muddled up with an Expropriation Bill from Public Works; a Communications Bill that has totally shaken the confidence of its industry sector and a Management Shareholding Bill for SOEs that is now tainted with violations of the Public Finance Management Act. We shall also learn what shape the energy mix is to take, the exact extent of the nuclear component in it and how the urgent issues of land reform, education and health are to play out in terms of what 1 little money we can borrow under tough conditions. Most importantly, Parliament will be asked to approve a budget drawn up by the winner. We put odds on the current President having much to do with the outcome of the ANC National Conference. His past performance shows that he is a master at political manoeuvring and no doubt business and industry will somehow be painted with the brush of the Steinhoff affair during deliberations. Spiral Throughout the last year, most of those watching the political circus being playing out believed it simply could not get worse. Yet, month by month, it did. Some of the more lurid aspects of the oversight process have played out on our television screens. Under this kind of pressure, the bar has been seen to drop on the ability of public servants to tell the truth. In another Parliament on 6 December, Lord Peter Hain, when introducing a Money Laundering Bill Amendment, said to the British House of Lords, “My Lords, in recent weeks I have again been stunned by the systemic transnational financial crime network facilitated by an Indian-South African family, the Gupta’s and the Presidential family, the Zuma’s.” Copybook example He was introducing the amendment to try and catch up on the millions of British pounds being laundered through Standard Charter and HSBC by Gupta family shell companies to and from business associates. He went on to show to the assembled House of Lords much of the documentation involving 27 named persons associated with the Vrede Dairy Project embezzlement, a community project scheme paid for by the SA the taxpayer which simply had “disappeared”. We know now, said Peter Hain, that the departure of this money from South Africa was carefully orchestrated by means of international money laundering bank transfers to pay for a R30m over- the-top Gupta family wedding at Sun City back in South Africa, over ten transfers being used to hide the pilfering of state funds before it arrived back in South Africa. More than just theft Lord Hain had every detail of the forensic trail of the money appropriated for the Vrede project at his fingertips both to justify his amending Bill and ready to pass on to investigating international bank authorities. He said, “Whilst this was not only an obscene gesture of opulence, this manipulative plan of greed left eighty black farming families in the Free State destitute”. In both countries the parliamentary process of learning the truth is playing out well. Hopefully, the Free State case will soon earn the same attention in the US Congress, the UN Assembly and the EU in Brussels whom Lord Hain has notified, as well as with the Hong Kong and Dubai authorities. Not just on this case but a whole host of other shady deals with South African SOEs. The FBI is already in action as is the UK’s Serious Fraud crime unit, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer passing an investigating note to UK banking authorities. 2 Legacy As a rather sad result, we shall never be allowed to forget the years that Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma was at the helm of this country, nor those Ministers who have surrounded him constantly telling him that he was wearing clothes. They will all be part of Hansard in the Parliamentary library, more book launches, plenty of documentaries and hopefully we shall see some action by what has failed us most in South Africa, the outrageous combination of the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority who have only been notable for their silence. People power But it has also been a year in which civil society has responded and have joined OUTA and Corruption Watch and others in a lonely battle to acquire the truth. AmaBhugane started the ball rolling with the Gupta e-mails and Jacques Pauw added momentum bringing us to the point that we now learn the FBI are around the corner with the UK’s Serious Fraud Unit also on the trail. We have learned as well along this rocky road that Parliament is a situation as much as an institution. There is constant movement. Every day is different. En garde! It will now be for Parliament to stop some of the more outrageous state capture moves such as interference in Treasury matters by forming a presidential fiscal spending committee based from Tuynhuys. This is the route to anarchy and takes a swipe at the parliamentary Standing Committees on Finance and Public Accounts. But these are hurdles to come if state capture is to be un-stitched. The genie is now out of the lamp, hopefully, but Parliament in 2018 will still be like a battleground. As shadow minister of public enterprises, Natasha Mazzone (DA), amusingly shouted in challenge to state capture adherents, it is now time to “Bring it on!” Previous editorial Parliament SA: the top half of the iceberg.. - ParlyReportSA Headlines: Editorial: Deep breathing is the order of the day AG to have consequence management ability Mahlobo tough on nuclear but explains energy mix delays Competition Commission gets mandate to study markets Labour matters flood in, plus three new Bills Cabinet determined on Border Management Bill International Arbitration Bill favours SA exporters CEF’s future; LNG imports; refinery possibilities and fuel specs Watershed Communications Bill gets more time Legislation tabled and pending in Parliament for recess 3 Parliament to beef up powers for Auditor General new parliamentary Bill to enable the Office of Auditor General (AGSA) to implement A consequences in respect of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure exposed in audit processes, is now well underway. It is the result of a considerable effort by parliamentarians across party lines in the Standing Committees. The Bill, the Public Audit Amendment Bill, has been fast tracked by the Parliamentary Committee Auditor General chaired by Vincent Smith (ANC) before the close of Parliament for the Christmas recess. This was speeded up to obtain the Speaker’s permission to have it tabled early in the new 2018 session and hopefully implemented before the year end. There is no reason to expect the Speaker not to approve the call. Home grown As distinct from a Bill introduced by a minister where Cabinet approval is required, the Public Audit Amendment Bill will be a product of Parliament itself. Its content is largely guided by the Parliamentary Legal Advisory team and accompanied by the legal policy department of the National Treasury has also joined in, which is extremely good news. Justification and crafting of the document has been the product of ANC, DA, EFF, IFP and COPE MPs with a common aim. Joint attendance at times was in the form of Themba Godi (APC) Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). Tougher stuff Themba Godi SCOPA) has been a long-time exponent of calling for additional powers for the Auditor General, particularly the ability to call for prosecution on criminal issues and the ability to collect monies owed by state entities and municipalities for auditing performed.