Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests only “sputters to life when the opposition can be politically persecuted”‚ the Democratic Aliiance’s (DA) John Steenhuisen said on Wednesday. He described it as a “political hit squad with a mandate to besmirch opposition members and their reputations while protecting members”.Steenhuisen‚ the DA’s chief whip in the National Assembly‚ said it intended taking some of the committee’s “recent rulings on review‚ in an effort to restore a sense of fairness and integrity to a committee that has clearly lost any credibility”.He said the committee’s chairperson‚ Amos Masondo‚ “has presided over it in an overtly partisan manner since his appointment”‚ while its registrar‚ Fazela Mahomed‚ “has shown open bias‚ and a disturbing lack of attention to detail and proper process”.Both‚ claimed Steenhuisen‚ had breached their oaths of Steenhuisen of confidentiality.“Often DA members under investigation by the committee have only heard of developments when they appear in print or when called for comment‚” he said. “Confidential DA complaints against other members of Parliament submitted to the registrar‚ as well as reports compiled by her‚ have repeatedly been leaked to senior members of the African National Congress (ANC).“In October last year‚ the ANC received the Declaration of Member’s Interests‚ and even released press statements on it‚ before the register was even published.” Steenhuisen said numerous complaints it had lodged against ANC MPs – “all potential violations of the Code of Ethical Conduct” - have not been investigated at all.“The committee and registrar have advanced every excuse possible to explain their failure to deal with these cases consistently‚” he said...