The opposition parties that are participating in the parliamentary ad- hoc committee, which was set up by parliament to investigate its position regarding the handling of the upgrades to the Zuma Nkandla homestead, decided to walk out of the committee meeting on Friday afternoon following the ruling ANC’s uncompromising stance on the sticky point of summoning the president, Jacob Zuma to answer questions regarding the issue.
Speaking at a joint media briefing after the walkout, the spokespersons for DA, EFF, FF Plus, Inkatha Freedom Party and African Christian Democratic Party, which include Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane, stated that it was clear that the African National Congress was not willing to agree to anything and were consequently asking the opposition to stoop to a very low moral level. The opposition parties further issued a thinly veiled threat to boycott parliament altogether in the near future. This, according to Julius Malema, could result from the fact that the opposition parties did not seem to have a role in the Parliament. He further cautioned that if this happened, the ruling party would be subverting the constitution of the rainbow nation.
Responding to the walkout, the deputy Chief Whip of the ruling ANC, Doris Dlakude said that it was clear that the opposition had not been interested in coming up with proposals that could help parliament to deal with the Nkandla issue. She said that the committee had been set up to analyse, interrogate and appraise the reports that had been set before it. Also speaking on the sidelines of the committee conflict, another ANC MP, Mmamoloko Kubayi reminded the opposition members that they stood to lose if they stayed away from the committee meetings. He added that as long as there was a quorum, the committee would continue with its work and the opposition parties stood to lose more.
