Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) is playing its last card in the stand-off with retired SA Police Service Brigadier Jaap Burger to voluntarily appear before it to give information related to financial mismanagement and corruption at Eskom by the 25th of this month or face being summonsed for information submitted by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter.
The evidence relates to the allegations made by former Eskom boss, De Ruyter, that high-ranking politicians were involved in corruption at the power utility, information he had submitted to Burger.
De Ruyter had also commissioned an intelligence report that allegedly named some of the people involved in fleecing Eskom.
This is as legal advise given Scopa by senior parliamentary legal advisor Frank Jenkins shot down Burger’s arguments that Eskom was a national key point, which precluded the committee from the mandate to deal with national security matters.
He said not the utility itself, but its individual power stations had been declared that.
Jenkins advised that Scopa was responsible for the oversight of the financial expenditure of public funds through engaging with and interrogating the financial statements, audit and other expenditure reports of organs of state, including Eskom, it might further investigate and consider any such matter related to it.
By way of example, the Scopa could consider whether there had indeed been unauthorised, or irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure - in other words what financial maladministration had taken place in Eskom. The focus, therefore, should be on what information Brigadier Burger had in relation to the allegations that could assist Scopa in fulfilling its financial oversight mandate, he said.
He added that Scopa was also mandated to probe whether irregular expenditure was accurately recorded in the financial statements and if not why; was such expenditure identified during the audit process and if not why; whether action is being taken against any people who may have contravened any financial prescripts or other laws and if not why as well as what is the status of any action that was being taken, including any steps to recover funds and hold people accountable in law.
Jenkins emboldened Scopa with advice that it was mandated to conduct financial oversight over all organs of state.
He pointed out that to some degree there would be an overlap between the functions of the Scopa and the oversight mandate of other parliamentary committees, an intended overlap in the system and therefore there was no organ of state which was subjected to the exclusive oversight jurisdiction of any single portfolio committees (PC) to the exclusion of the Scopa.
Burger had refused to appear before the committee in early July arguing that “security competence” required that classified information or material should not be allowed to fall into unauthorised hands thereby harming or endangering the security interests of the State.
He had contended that national security matters and in particular investigations into organised crime and corruption were classified in nature and not open to public or political scrutiny until in court.
He further noted a safety concern in respect of investigators, whistle-blowers, witnesses and “collaborators” and the onus to ensure that their personal safety was protected.
He also questioned whether the allegations should more appropriately be dealt with in a closed meeting by the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, which according to him is one of the PC.
Scopa Chair Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the committee would write to Burger to ask him to appear on October 25. He would have until October 20 to respond. To issue a subpoena, Scopa must get the permission of the Speaker.
MP Bheki Hadebe said Scopa was not interested in national security matters, but on who was behind corruption at the power utility.
Hlengwa said they would give Burger seven working days to respond to their letter on whether he will come to Parliament. If he fails to show up, then Scopa would be forced to subpoena him.
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