Bursts of sarcasm, laughing at her own jokes and refusal to disclose names of sources of information she relied on to complain about the political killings task team. These were the events that punctuated violence monitor and academic Mary de Haas’s appearance before parliament’s ad hoc committee.
De Haas, who has been critical of the work of the political killings task team (PKTT), was central to the decision that was made by suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu to disband the task team.
During her testimony, De Haas was accused of basing her evidence largely on hearsay.
When asked if she knew the number of cases that were registered with the task team and the prosecutions, De Haas said she did not but had a rough idea based on public releases.
She alleged that the political killings in KZN in 2016 were precipitated by former president Jacob Zuma and the Cyril Ramaphosa factions. She said a Joe Dlamini, who was part of the Ramaphosa faction, was on a hitlist and was murdered. However, MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo said she was wrong to say that.
De Haas said: “Well, are you able to be objective if you were a member of the ANC?”
Asked by MP David Skosana on what legal authority she was involving herself in police matters, De Haas said: “I am a human rights defender, which is an internationally recognised status of acting to protect people from harm. Don’t come to me now with this thing of locus standi.”
Asked if KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was credible, she said she did not believe he was. She said crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo was “definitely not” credible.
She then laughed and said national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola had perjured himself to parliament before the portfolio committee on police. De Haas was asked to withdraw the statement regarding Masemola and she did.
Earlier, De Haas angered members of the committee when she refused to name her sources, saying she would rather stop testifying.
Committee members took exception to De Haas’s facial expressions, including rolling her eyes and talking over them. She claimed people she had spoken to about the task team’s investigations reported emotional and physical abuse. “I have been told by virtually everyone I’ve interacted with that they [the task team] just come in and search without a warrant.”
She said the team was also accused of taking people’s phones without a court order. “This was a common allegation. This is illegal,” she said, adding that community members reported harassment from the team.
De Haas said information she had been given by sources still needed to be tested by investigators at the Madlanga commission, which is probing the same allegations. When she was asked if she could reveal the names in-camera, De Haas refused, saying the people concerned would appear before the Madlanga commission.
But ActionSA MP Dereleen James said the proceedings were not a storytelling session nor a history lesson. “Our communities are under siege. Our children are being fed drugs. We are here to get to the truth. Ethics left this room and this country a long time ago. It’s too late for that now.”
EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys said what the committee was doing was justice. “You’d rather not tell us the story if we’re not going to attach names. You can’t talk while I’m talking, so let’s take a chill pill for a little bit,” she said.
“We understand we’re in a hostile environment where people get killed, but we’d rather not hear the story, because it makes it difficult for us to do our job. You can’t also roll your eyes while we’re talking.”
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