The Democratic Alliance said on Monday that it would not support the ANC’s choice of candidate for the appointment of a new Inspector-General of Intelligence‚ saying their choice was and “ANC cadre mandated to aide President Zuma’s continued campaign of state capture”.
In a statement released by the party‚ the DA’s chief whip John Steenhuisen said he had received a letter from the Speaker of Paliament‚ Baleka Mbete‚ calling on “the opposition to support former ANC MP and ‘Secrecy Bill’ author‚ Cecil Burgess’ appointment as South Africa’s new Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI)”.
“Known as the architect of the 'Secrecy Bill' and author of a ‘whitewashed’ report on ‘Nkandlagate’‚ Burgess simply cannot be trusted with the transparency and accountability of our country’s Crime Intelligence‚ Defence Intelligence and other state security apparatuses - which have already been abused for political purposes both inside and outside of the ANC‚” said Steenhuisen.
The position has been vacant for more than a year‚ and Steenhuisen blamed the ANC’s “refusal to restart the recommendation process and work with the opposition to find a suitable candidate whom all parties can support”
He said Mbete “clearly has a bias and should recuse herself from Wednesday vote”.
“The DA’s opposition to Burgess’s proposed appointment is clear‚ and we will not buckle to Mbete’s bullying.”
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