Anti-Makhosi Khoza MPs to face caucus disciplinary committee

The ANC fallout over last week's motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma has spilled over to committees of parliament‚ with MPs loyal to him now refusing to recognise Makhosi Khoza as their chairperson.

Five MP seen as Zuma supporters on Tuesday boycotted a meeting of the public service portfolio committee which was scheduled to grill minister Faith Muthambi following revelations that she was hiring close friends and relatives in her office and had flown them at taxpayers' cost to attend her budget vote speech in May.

Khoza has previously called for Zuma to step down and had stated that she would vote with her conscience in last Tuesday's no confidence vote and she has been fingered as one of those ANC MPs who may have voted for Zuma to go.

The five MPs wrote a letter to their Chief Whip‚ Jackson Mthembu‚ just a few hours before the meeting‚ stating that they no longer regarded Khoza as their chairperson and they had "taken a decision to suspend all study group/portfolio committee meetings until the conduct of Dr Khoza is addressed".

The five MPs - Zephroma Dlamini-Dubuzana‚ Regina Lesoma‚ Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen‚ Madala Ntombela and Mervyn Dirk – accused Khoza of acting against the ANC.

Aside from Khoza‚ only one ANC MP‚ Nyami Booi‚ broke ranks with the group of five and attended the meeting where he supported calls by the opposition parties for Muthambi to now be subpoenaed by the committee after she failed to show up at the meeting.

But Mthembu has rejected their call‚ saying they did not have any authority on the deployment of ANC MPs.

Mthembu said the five MPs were themselves showing ill-discipline by boycotting meetings of the national legislature and action should be taken against them by the national leadership of the ANC.

"Only the ANC through its constitutional structures can remove an ANC deployee from any deployed position. No study group or any deployee of the ANC can remove another deployee from a position of Whip‚ Chairperson or Member of Parliament. Those comrades who boycotted today’s meeting after clear instructions from the Chief Whip will be referred to the ANC Caucus Disciplinary Committee‚" he said.

Khoza said she was baffled by Muthambi's no-show‚ saying she had met her in Cape Town on Tuesday morning.

“We were together and even at the meeting she did not indicate she won’t be coming to this meeting. It’s fruitless and wasteful expenditure. You can’t come to Cape Town supposed to attend a meeting and don’t pitch up. It’s really tragic that she is not here‚” said Khoza. Muthambi could not be directly reached for comment and departmental spokesman Dumisani Nkwanba could not be comment on the matter.

The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said there was a deliberate plot to derail the work of parliament.

“Faith Muthambi is running away to be held accountable about the reports of nepotism but also report of corruption happening in her department under her instructions. That is why some of the ANC members who wished this committee to not quorate are not here. There is a deliberate plan to collapse the functioning of parliament to hold the cabinet of Duduzane’s father accountable. They want to collapse this institution to do its job. The work of parliament is being sabotaged in this way‚” said Ndlozi.

The committee agreed to subpoena Muthambi‚ her director general and accounting officers in the various entities in her department. They also want parliament to recoup the money spent on their travel to Cape Town.

On Tuesday evening‚ departmental spokesman Dumisani Nkwamba indicated that Muthambi was always ready to account to the committee on the work of her department and entities but "special circumstances" prevented her from attending the Tuesday meeting.