(FXI/IFEX) – A special parliamentary committee is investigating Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Member of Parliament Patricia De Lille, who is accused of abusing her parliamentary privilege following an outburst on 22 October 1997 during which she named several top African National Congress (ANC) members as allegedly having been spies for the apartheid security forces. During […]
(FXI/IFEX) – A special parliamentary committee is investigating
Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Member of Parliament Patricia De
Lille, who is accused of abusing her parliamentary privilege
following an outburst on 22 October 1997 during which she named
several top African National Congress (ANC) members as allegedly
having been spies for the apartheid security forces.
During an interpellation debate in Parliament, De Lille accused
the government of suppressing information that would show that
seven senior ANC figures, including three cabinet ministers, were
spies for the apartheid-era security forces. She said the list,
containing a total of twelve names, was in the possession of
President Nelson Mandela and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. De
Lille then proceeded to name seven senior ANC members believed to
be on the list. Following her statement, ANC deputy chief whip
Naledi Pandor asked Ginwala to rule that De Lille had breached
parliamentary privilege by naming the members, but Ginwala
refused. However, De Lille was forced to withdraw the word
“spies” after Ginwala ruled that it was unparliamentary to make
unsubstantiated allegations of that kind against MPs. Both the
ANC and the Office of the President denied the existence of the
list referred to by De Lille. On 23 October, the ANC gave notice
of motion in Parliament calling for the appointment of a
committee to investigate the conduct of De Lille. The motion was
passed and a committee of fifteen was set up. Eight members of
the committee were from the ANC, while the rest were from the
National Party, the Democratic Party, the Inkatha Freedom Party
and the African Christian Democratic Party.
On 6 November, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) made an
urgent representation to the Speaker of Parliament protesting the
manner in which the special parliamentary committee is
investigating De Lille. FXI, in its representation, said the
manner in which the committee was approaching the issue was “not
only irregular, but a serious intrusion on the right to
parliamentary privilege”. The organisation said: “We feel
strongly that Ms De Lille cannot and should not be hauled before
a special committee merely for using her parliamentary privilege.
Rather, we feel that the statements she made should be the
subject of an investigation and on the basis of such an
investigation, which should involve a judgement on whether the
statements were true or false, action should be taken against Ms
De Lille. Clearly the committee is not conducting an
investigation into the allegations and seems intent on passing a
judgement that relates directly to her use of parliamentary
privilege”.
FXI added that the matter was a serious violation of the right of
MPs to freedom of expression as it could have a chilling effect
on free speech in Parliament.
“The setting up of a special committee with the intention of
taking action against an MP because of statements made in
parliament, and in the absence of any investigation into the
validity of the statements, could have the effect of discouraging
other MPs from exposing or raising allegations in Parliament out
of fear of being hauled before a special committee,” the
organisation said.
FXI called on the speaker of Parliament, Frene Ginwala, to
dissolve immediately the special committee set up to investigate
the actions of De Lille and, instead, “set up a committee to
investigate the allegations raised by Ms De Lille and on the
basis of this investigation decide on any action that should be
taken against the honourable member”. FXI also called on Ginwala
to ensure that De Lille not be punished for using parliamentary
privilege as this would be a serious setback for free speech in
Parliament.
