ANC's new chief whip backs calls for Gupta debate (video)

He may be an old hand in politics but Jackson Mthembu promises to bring with him a new broom to his latest post as ANC chief whip.

His first mission, if he has his way, will be to get parliament to tackle the apparent stranglehold the Gupta family has on President Jacob Zuma and his government.

This is a complete break with the tradition of Mthembu's predecessors, who used their positions to protect the head of state and the executive from parliamentary scrutiny and accountability.

Mthembu this week replaced Stone Sizani as head of the ANC caucus and wasted no time in promising drastic changes in the way the party's MPs conduct themselves.

story_article_left1

Amid calls from opposition parties for a debate in the National Assembly over allegations of Gupta influence in the government and state-owned enterprises, Mthembu this week told the Sunday Times that he was keen to have the matter brought before parliament.

Even before his appointment as chief whip, Mthembu showed himself to be among the ANC's most vocal opponents of "state corporate capture" - publicly defending Deputy Minister of Finance Mcebisi Jonas when he came under fire for confirming that the Guptas had offered him a job as finance minister.

The new ANC chief whip said he would support calls for a parliamentary investigation of the Guptas.

"Broadly, we are all in full agreement that we can't allow this democracy that we fought so hard for; that people died for; that people went to prison for ... to serve not our people but some business connections. It can't be correct."

Mthembu said it pained him to hear claims that the Guptas were attempting to run government departments and control politicians using their proximity to high office.

"For some of us it becomes a little bit painful because I know what I went through and what I was prepared to die for. I was not prepared to die for some people to amass and amass ... because they have subjected the state to their own whims."

If parliament held a debate on "corporate state capture", he would insist that it covered much more than just Jonas's claim that the Guptas offered him the finance portfolio while the then incumbent, Nhlanhla Nene, was still in office.

"The issue of Mcebisi is just one issue but there have been a number of issues that show a particular pattern," he said.

Mthembu lambasted ANC comrades who allowed themselves to be used by business groupings outside of the party.

"Why on earth would you want your own policies to be subverted to the whims of particular individuals - policies meant to serve our people? Implementation of those policies cannot be changed in a manner that makes a particular group to amass and amass without due processes. We would be worse than a banana republic," said Mthembu.

He has also set his sights on ending the chaos that has dominated parliament since late 2014.

story_article_right2

Parliamentary sessions have frequently been disrupted mainly because of heated exchanges between presiding officers, who are all from the ANC, and EFF MPs. At times, parliamentary security has used force to remove opposition MPs from parliament.

Mthembu said he wants to persuade all political parties to try to make parliament less confrontational.

To achieve that, he said, he would first have discussions with his own colleagues on the ANC benches, as the party had to "take some of the blame" for the tensions.

His approach to dealing with the disruptive behaviour in parliament, he said, would not be to point fingers.

"We will be making approaches to everyone - to the DA, to the EFF ...

"You can say something of the EFF, but I will not say that this phenomenon [of disrupting parliament] is exclusive to the EFF. I think all of us must have that particular discourse," said Mthembu.

He also wants to use his new post to stop ANC MPs from playing truant from the house, resulting in parliament failing to pass vital legislation and vote on departmental budgets.

"I will tell all those who don't come to parliament to go to the disciplinary committee to explain themselves. They could be fired ... because it is not their seat, it is an ANC seat.

"This absenteeism we are talking about is people whose sole function is to come to parliament and hold the executive accountable. Some don't even come to their portfolio committees that they are assigned to," he said.

hunterq@sundaytimes.co.za