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The ANC’s dwindling majority in Parliament has come to haunt it as the party battles to get a two-thirds majority to allow it to appoint an inspector-general of intelligence of its choice.
After five months without an inspector-general, the ANC is now consulting other parties to get consensus so that Parliament can finally fill the statutory position.
The ANC’s preferred candidate is Cecil Burgess – the man who steered the secrecy bill through Parliament.
He failed to get appointed earlier this year because there was no quorum in the House.
Approval for this position requires a two-thirds majority because it is a constitutional appointment.
This means some opposition parties have to support the candidate, but the two biggest opposition parties have vowed not to support Burgess.
His sharp tongue and often brusque manner as chairperson of the ad hoc committee considering the secrecy bill, has earned the ire of opposition parties.
City Press has learnt that ANC chief whip Stone Sizani is consulting other parties to find consensus on a “suitable” candidate.
It is not clear where Sizani got the mandate to lobby for a candidate as the recruitment process for the position of the inspector-general is done by Parliament through its joint standing committee on intelligence.
But it was Sizani who withdrew a motion to approve Burgess’ appointment on June 24, seconds before the matter was due to be debated and adopted by the National Assembly.
Sizani never stated why he was withdrawing the motion, but it was clear there was no quorum in the National Assembly to deal with the issue.
The ANC, which has previously relied on its numerical strength to pass issues, now has 249 MPs and will need all of them to be present to vote in favour of the bill. It also needs 15 opposition MPs to vote with it.
Sizani’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said given that the inspector-general’s appointment required a two-thirds majority, consultation was continuing with other parties to ultimately get a consensus for a suitable candidate so that the recommendation report can be retabled before the National Assembly.
He said that, in the meantime, the inspector-general’s office continued to fulfil its statutory obligations in terms of receiving and investigating complaints from the public under the watchful oversight eye of Parliament.
The two biggest opposition parties in Parliament – the DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters – said they were not in talks with Sizani and would never back Burgess’ candidacy even if Sizani had consulted with them.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen criticised the idea of Sizani lobbying parties behind the scenes, saying this was not his role.
“He is not the employment agency for the inspector- general of intelligence. I would caution him from muddying the waters any further,” he said
