NCOP Chief Whip’s act of treachery a betrayal of trust within the GNU

The Chief Whip of the NCOP, Mr Kenneth Mmoiemang, from the ANC has unilaterally acted in bad faith with regards to the election of joint committee chairpersons, against the agreement between the DA and the ANC.

The DA and ANC have agreed, in writing, to split the chairpersonships of the Joint Committees equally, the DA taking the NA chair on the Constitutional Review Committee, and the NCOP chair in all other committees. See the correspondence here and here.

Mmoeimang failed, as chief whip in the NCOP, to ensure that his party carried out this agreement in good faith and subsequently the ANC in the NCOP nominated a candidate against that of the DA. The ANC has since failed to correct this, indicative of either a lack of discipline, good faith, or both on the part of the ANC parliamentary caucus.

This act of bad faith, and Mmoeimang's failure to ensure that the agreement is honoured, threatens the working relationship between the DA and ANC in Parliament, and we urge the ANC to act decisively against Mmoiemang in order to restore trust. We further demand that the elected ANC chairperson on the Joint Standing Committee on Defence resign, and that the DA chairperson be elected. The DA will also call on the Secretary General of the ANC, Fikile Mbalula, to urgently intervene.

The principle at stake here is not only honouring our agreements within the GNU, but also ensuring that we adhere to the co-governing agreement. If the GNU proves not to be viable within Parliament, it will be entirely due to the ANC's inability to be a trustworthy partner.