The Democratic Alliance (DA) will on Tuesday propose a motion in Parliament to have the Nkandla ad hoc committee's report substituted with a minority report that the party drafted with other opposition parties.

DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen and members of the shadow cabinet briefed the media on their proposal ahead of the National Assembly’s consideration of the report.

In a statement, the party said its report - which it hoped would be accepted by Parliament - found that:

• Minister of Police Nathi Nhleko misinterpreted his mandate and only concentrated on four issues. He failed to consider the other issues raised in the reports of the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit;
• Nhleko, by his own admission, never engaged with the Public Protector, contrary to the judgment delivered by Judge Ashton Schippers;
• Prices were inflated, and there were instances of poor workmanship;
• None of the amounts spent at Nkandla appeared in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework or departmental budgets.

Irrational

"Minister Nhleko’s report – effectively rubber-stamped by the ANC in the Committee – is completely at odds with due process and our Constitution, and should have been declared irrational by Parliament. Tomorrow [Tuesday] is our last chance to do so," the statement said.

"We therefore appeal to all members of the National Assembly – especially those within the ANC – to exercise their consciences and support the deletion and substitution of the Nkandla whitewash report with the DA’s minority report."

Despite numerous pleas and attempts to properly interrogate the police minister’s report, the DA said the ANC has refused to allow key witnesses such as Advocate Thuli Madonsela to appear before the committee to brief it on her report and its proposed remedial actions. Instead the committee’s scope was restricted to Nhleko’s report.

The report was “poorly drafted, at times factually inaccurate and deliberately obfuscates and contradicts the Public Protector’s and Special Investigating Units’ (SIU) findings, without rational grounds”, according to the statement.

News24.com