NCOP chair in trouble over Russia trip

The chair of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) may have landed in hot water after embarking on a trip to Russia with an expensive army of officials in tow, apparently without approval from the relevant parliamentary bodies.

The Sunday Times has learnt from well-placed officials and politicians that there was consternation after Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane travelled to Moscow this week for bilateral meetings with her Russian counterpart.

There was also unhappiness about the size of the support staff group that accompanied Mtshweni-Tsipane, with eight officials flying Emirates business class to support five MPs.

MPs from the DA and MK Party, among others, also fumed after learning about the trip, saying they had neither been invited nor consulted as per normal parliamentary protocols and practices.

The cheapest return ticket for travel between Cape Town and Moscow via Dubai on Emirates business class was selling for just over R95,000 this week.

The eight officials also claimed more than R48,000 in subsistence and travel allowances.

As the invited principal, the chair was under no obligation to constitute a parliamentary delegation, as the invitation was extended to her in her capacity as chair of the NCOP. Nevertheless, she elected to invite members of parliament to accompany her

—  Moloto Mothapo, parliament’s spokesperson

There was concern that Mtshweni-Tsipane, a former Mpumalanga premier, did not consult the parliamentary group on international relations (PGIR).

But parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, has strongly defended the trip, arguing that it fell outside the ambit of the PGIR. Mothapo said the trip to the Kremlin had nothing to do with the PGIR since it was a bilateral engagement and not a multilateral affair, which he said was the mandate of the PGIR.

“This engagement falls outside the purview of the PGIR, whose processes apply to multilateral parliamentary engagements,” he said. “The visit to the Russian Federation is a bilateral engagement between the two parliamentary leaders.

“As the invited principal, the chair was under no obligation to constitute a parliamentary delegation, as the invitation was extended to her in her capacity as chair of the NCOP. Nevertheless, she elected to invite members of parliament to accompany her.”

The ANC’s Bheki Radebe, who is one of the co-chairs of the PGIR, also said that Mtshweni-Tsipane was not obliged to consult them on the Russian trip. He said she was only expected to present a post-trip report to them.

Mothapo said parliament only paid for its officials, while the five MPs that accompanied Mtshweni-Tsipane had been sponsored by the Russian parliament.

“The bilateral working visit is being undertaken at the invitation of parliament’s sister institution, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. In line with established practice for bilateral parliamentary visits of this nature, the inviting institution is responsible for the costs of the parliamentary delegation.

Tax money should rather be spent on doing their job here, in South Africa, where it matters

—  George Michalakis, DA’s parliamentary leader

“Our parliament is responsible only for the costs associated with the support officials accompanying the delegation. The total cost attributable to parliament will be consolidated and made available in due course.

“The objectives of the visit are to strengthen bilateral parliamentary relations, deepen co-operation under the existing 2014 memorandum of understanding between the two institutions, exchange best practices on parliamentary oversight and law-making, and enhance people-to-people relations between South Africa and the Russian Federation.”

But the DA’s parliamentary leader, George Michalakis, said they were not impressed and would be taking up the issue with National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza and the committee that oversees parliament’s budget.

“It is astonishing that, whilst portfolio committees and select committees do not have funds to conduct oversight here in South Africa, which is part of parliament’s constitutional role, there is money for the chair of the National Council of Provinces to take a massive delegation to Russia without seemingly consulting anyone or having any regard for the principle of multiparty democracy,” said Michalakis.

“The fact that they went to Russia seems to have come as a surprise not only to us, but also to many senior officials of parliament. I would not be surprised if she did not even consult the speaker herself, since it is well known that the two of them do not sit around the same fire. Tax money should rather be spent on doing their job here, in South Africa, where it matters.”

But other parliamentary officials sympathetic to the delegation to Russia pointed out that parliament’s travel policy allowed them to travel business class on long-haul flights, especially when travelling with politicians flying business class.

The MK Party has said it wants action to be taken against Mtshweni-Tsipane.