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The chairperson of the energy portfolio committee, Fikile Majola, insists that he will not turn his back on a commitment that there will be transparency when Parliament scrutinises the controversial nuclear procurement programme.
At pains to defend his position after coming under fire last week when the public, including the media, were told to leave a committee meeting, Majola put this down to a “misunderstanding”.
During an interview at his offices on Tuesday, Majola said the agenda that day stated that PetroSA would brief the committee on a damning forensic report on the state oil company’s R14.5 billion loss of the previous year.
However, he had adjourned the meeting so the committee could privately consult Parliament’s legal services on the implications of holding a closed meeting. The committee also discussed the legalities of a closed meeting when the department of energy briefed it on domestic nuclear contracts on November 29.
The department had argued that if the meeting was public, would-be suppliers would tailor proposals based on costing prices disclosed in the documents.
“That was the consultation that was held behind closed doors; there was no briefing,” said Majola, adding that in the end, it was decided that the doors would remain open for both meetings.
“I accept it was not explained [to the media],” he added, saying that the committee needed to take a decision together and that was the first opportunity it had to do so.
Majola said that it was too late to hold the PetroSA briefing, and it would be rescheduled.
When asked for an assurance that he stood by his pledge for transparency, Majola said: “Nothing has changed. That is why the meetings are going ahead in the open. As I have said before, I stand by that and that is what we are going to do.”
Civic groupings and the opposition raised the alarm about the exclusion of the public last week.
In terms of the constitution, the public cannot be excluded from a committee “unless it is reasonable and justifiable to do so in an open and democratic society”. The rules of Parliament state that the public, including the media, can only be excluded if: a committee is considering a matter of a private nature that is prejudicial to a particular person; protected under Parliamentary privilege; or for any other reason privileged in terms of the law, or confidential in terms of legislation. It stipulates that “due consideration” first needs to be given.
In an interview in September last year, Majola said it would be foolhardy of Parliament to rubber-stamp the government’s nuclear plans if they turned out to be unaffordable or to South Africa’s detriment.
“It is now irreversible that we are going to have to conduct it in a very transparent manner, and we are going to have to allow robust public engagement.”
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