OPINION: Only a prestigious Parliament can beat SA's many crises | MMkhabel
Unemployment, corruption, poor service delivery, poverty and many other national crises must be confronted by a prestigious Parliament, writesThe selection of controversial former ministers to head parliamentary committees once again raises questions about the constitutional requirements for being a member of Parliament.
The public uproar following the selection of Gupta-linked former ministers Mosebenzi Zwane and others associated with various misdemeanors in their previous Cabinet portfolios only serves to provide colour to public debate. It doesn't change the fact that nothing in the Constitution prevents Zwane or Faith Muthambi from being elected to higher positions.Only their political party, the ANC, out of its own volition as a governing party can prevent them.
But we know they are not the best to represent South Africans. Nor are they the best in the ANC itself. Given their controversial past, they still have to account at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture and hopefully other criminal tribunals. If the public uproar is to have any substantive effect and assuming that all leaders of political parties, including the ANC, are listening, qualification criteria for different positions would be developed and institutionalised. This would greatly benefit the Cabinet, a derivative of Parliament.
But knowing their own historical sins, the situation could lead to another possibility. Some of the controversial former ministers who chair committees might try to ingratiate themselves to Cabinet members and other government officials to be seen to be supportive of the"new dawn". It is also likely that committees headed by questionable characters could become sites for battles between ANC members and opposition MPs. The latter will be more emboldened than ever before because of their net increase in membership after the ANC's electoral decline.
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