The ad hoc Committee, established to consider President Jacob Zuma’s response to Parliament over security upgrades to his Nkandla home, has been postponed for MPs to get clarity on the committee’s terms of reference.

The 11-member committee met at the National Assembly on Friday morning where they were expected to elect a chairperson.

After brief deliberations, MPs decided that the meeting be postponed to a later date while the committee’s terms of reference be referred back to the National Assembly.

At the heart of the deliberations, MPs wanted their mandate to be defined before they could elect a chairperson.

They also wanted to understand if the terms of reference would allow the committee to consider all reports on the Nkandla upgrade – from Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report, the Inter-Ministerial Committee report to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report – including the President’s response to the Public Protector report, which he submitted to Parliament, earlier this month.

Also to be clarified by the terms of reference is whether the Public Protector and the President would be invited to answer the Committee’s questions as well.  

While it is still not clear when the Committee will meet again, it has been given until 24 October to complete its work.